Steve Lein

He's still outperforming the average slash in the triple-A hitter's environment overall, but in the last month (27 games) his OPS is .180 points above league average. In August it is .335+ above league average. In my opinion, he is a legitimate promotion candidate at this point, he has been fantastic. The only problem, as has been mentioned, is the Twins have all the IL guys that need to be added back soon, there just may not be room, which can be viewed as disappointing in his case.

It was a tough day to score runs throughout the Minnesota Twins farm system on Tuesday, but the top of the lineup in Fort Myers came through multiple times in their win. In triple-A, an undefeated pitcher finally found some bad luck in hot weather, and an 18-year old you may have heard of played his last game in the Florida Complex League. TRANSACTIONS The St. Paul Saints placed RHP Austin Schulfer on the 7-day injured list with a right hip impingement. In his place, they assigned RHP Francis Peguero from double-A. Down in Fort Myers, three pitchers the Twins drafted this year made the move from the FCL Twins to the Mighty Mussels. They were RHP Nolan Santos (7th round), RHP Ty Langenberg (11th round), and RHP Xander Hamilton (14th round). Wichita Wind Surge RHP Sean Mooney was also sent on a rehab assignment to the Mighty Mussels. In not yet official moves, the Twins also announced after today’s FCL game that 2023 first round pick Walker Jenkins was being promoted to the Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Omaha 14 Box Score On a super hot and muggy night in Omaha (think even hotter than MSP today), Nebraska Louie Varland was ambushed in the second inning, leading to his first loss of the season with the St. Paul Saints. It looked good in the early going for the visiting squad, as Andrew Stevenson led off the game with his 16th home run of the season. He was followed by Austin Martin’s fifth home with the Saints for back-to-back jobs to start the game. Varland sent the Storm Chasers down in order in the bottom of the first, but that would be as good as it would get for the Minnesota native. In the second, two walks, an error, a double, and a home run turned a 2-0 lead into a 5-2 deficit the Saints would not be able to come back from. Varland did push through to finish four innings, but was charged with seven runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks. He struck out three. The bullpen didn’t fare any better, as the trio of Austin Brice (1 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB), Francis Peguero (2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), and Ronny Henriquez (1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, K) all allowed multiple runs as well. The Storm Chasers pounded out 13 hits and drew nine walks compared to the Saints eight and three respectively, in their blowout win. The Saints scored their other two runs in the top of the fourth thanks to singles from Anthony Prato, Jair Camargo, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. for an RBI, before a wild pitch brought Camargo home. Stevenson (2-for-5, R, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 K), Martin (2-for-5, R, HR, RBI, K), and Prato (2-for-3, R, BB, K) led the way for the Saints on offense. Trevor Larnach was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. The Saints managed to strike out four times in the eighth inning as well, which is always fun to witness. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 0, Arkansas 5 Box Score The Wind Surge were unable to solve Traveler’s pitching on Tuesday, managing just seven hits with none of them going for extra bases. They also had just three at-bats with runners in scoring position, but their lone hit wasn’t enough to bring a run home. Starting pitcher Travis Adams kept his team in the game for the first 4 1/3 innings. He gave up just one run on four hits, two walks, and struck out five. Denny Bentley came on in the fifth and recorded the next three outs. He allowed a run of his own on two hits while striking out two. Curtis Taylor got them through the seventh inning still down just 2-0, retiring all five hitters he faced including two K’s. Arkansas got three insurance runs in the eighth off of Miguel Rodriguez. He struck out two in his lone inning but also surrendered four hits. Tanner Schobel and Seth Gray each had two hits in four at-bats to lead the lineup. Alex Isola, Dalton Shuffield, and Yoyner Fajardo collected the other three singles. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 6 Box Score The Kernel’s Christian MacLeod took the bump in this one, and was solid for five innings, falling one inning short of a quality outing. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked one, and struck out four. He left the game down 3-1, as the Kernels were only able to score on a Misael Urbina solo home run in the third inning to that point. It was his fourth home run of the season. Reliever Jarret Whorff came on for the sixth and it didn’t go quite as well for him. In one-plus innings, he allowed three runs of his own on six hits, and the Kernels were down 6-1. Malik Barrington entered the game in the seventh, and allowed a few inherited runners to score, but otherwise finished the game for the visiting team. He allowed two hits and struck out four in two innings. Cedar Rapids scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but left too many runners on base to come all the way back. With one out and the bases loaded in the eighth, a sac fly from Noah Miller was all they could muster. In the ninth, a double from Jorel Ortega scored Ben Ross, who had walked to lead off the inning. Emmanuel Rodriguez was the only hitter with multiple knocks, going 2-for-4 on the night. Urbina added a walk to his home run. As a team they had just six hits total, and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. MUSSEL MATTERS Daytona 1, Fort Myers 7 Box Score While the Tortugas struck first against Mighty Mussels starter Ben Ethridge, the right-hander’s lineup had his back, delivering a stronger counter-punch in the bottom half of the first inning. Luke Keaschall got them going with a one-out triple, and Ricardo Olivar followed with a single to tie the game at one. Two batters later, Rubel Cespedes hit his 11th homer of the season, making it 3-1. After the minor blip in the first, Ethridge worked around baserunners for the rest of his five total innings. In all he was charged with just one earned run on six hits and four walks. He struck out three, with 52 of his 83 pitches going for strikes (63%). Fort Myers—or more specifically, Keaschall, Olivar, and Cespedes—tacked on two more runs in each of the third and fifth innings to extend their lead to 7-1. In the third Keaschall led off with a double, Olivar traded places with him for another RBI, and Cespedes later delivered a sac fly. In the fifth Keaschall drew a walk, Olivar was hit by a pitch, and Cespedes clubbed an RBI double. Danny De Andrade added a sac fly. Starting his rehab assignment from Wichita, righty Sean Mooney pitched the sixth inning for Fort Myers. He faced four batters, walking one and striking out two. Danny Moreno then pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing one hit and one walk. He struck out two. Zach Veen finished off the game with a scoreless ninth inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. Both teams had eight total hits in the game, but the Mighty Mussels were 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, compared to 2-for-10 for the Tortugas. Keaschall (2-for-2, 3 R, 2B, 3B, 2 BB), Olivar (2-for-3, 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI), and Cespedes (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) obviously led the way. Alex Sayre also chipped in two hits in four at-bats. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Red Sox 1, FCL Twins 3 Box Score The Twins had just four hits in the game compared to the Red Sox’s seven, but they did get one hit with the bases loaded to score two, while the visitors went 0-12 with runners in scoring position. Anderson Nova’s two-run single in the fourth inning put the Twins on the scoreboard first, and a few walks later they had a 3-0 lead that would hold up. Byron Chourio drew two walks, one of them good for an RBI, and stole a base. Bryan Acuna and Wilfri Castro collected the other two hits, with Castro’s going for a double. Walker Jenkins singled, stole a base, and drew a walk in four plate appearances, which turned out to be his last game on the back fields in Fort Myers. Eduardo Soriano made the start and completed 5 2/3 innings. He scattered four hits, walked one, and struck out two. Relievers Julio Bonilla (2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) and Jeferson Lopez (1 IP) kept the Red Sox at bay the rest of the way. In other FCL news, pitcher Kyle Bischoff was named the FCL pitcher of the week. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day - Eduardo Soriano, FCL Twins (W, 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, BB, 2 K) Hitter of the Day - Rubel Cespedes, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR (11), 4 RBI) PROSPECT SUMMARY We have again updated our top 20 prospect list. Check out the full list here and how they performed on Tuesday below! #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 #2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL) - 1-for-3, BB, K, SB (4) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4 #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, R, HR (5), RBI #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-for-4 #10 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 2-for-2, 3 R, 2B, 3B, 2 BB #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, RBI WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Blayne Enlow (2-5, 9.20 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP David Festa (2-3, 4.56 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CDT) - RHP Andrew Morris (3-1, 2.57 ERA) Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Jack Noble (0-2, 3.15 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

For some extra browsing, in addition to updating our own Top 20 prospect list (linked in article), MLBPipeline also released their newest top 100: https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/ Twins have 3 players in it: 16. Walker Jenkins 18. Brooks Lee 52. Emmanuel Rodriguez

Agree. I wouldn't call any of his pitches as "plus," but he is one of the better command/control guys with an elite SO/BB ratio. Locates everything he throws, so they play up some.

Without going in depth looking at it, I'd point to their pitching. The Wind Surge have been a top offense in the Texas League all season, but they've also had one of the worst pitching staffs. But David Festa has been a lot better in the second half. Pierson Ohl has been great for over a month. Carlos Luna had also been good enough to get a spot start in St. Paul last week. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games and a half-game out of first in their division in the second half at 20-20.

Watched the whole game, I'm not underselling it. After the two doubles to start the game, the first of which was probably the weakest hit double I've ever seen, it was nothing but ground balls squeaking by the gloves of infielders, or being hit in such a way a play to get an out wasn't possible. By my count, he broke four bats, and of those three ended up as hits, which is just ridiculous. Brooks Lee also made one of the best SS plays I've seen this season on a slow chopper in the hole, backhand stab, strong throw across his body on the move. The runner just beat it. 🤷‍♂️ (on this front, Lee has looked better than I expected as a SS this season, I think he could absolutely stick there if needed) Randy is still having an issue of not being able to put guys away as good as he'd like (he's recently stated since his finger injury, his sinker isn't as good), but 9 times out of 10 if he pitches like he did yesterday he's going to have better results. I'm also not saying he's due to come to Minneapolis over other guys right now, but he could be a great long-man option if a need comes up.

I don't see any reason they wouldn't be in Fort Myers to start next year. I also don't think it's out of the question one or both of them get some run there to end this season. Alex Kirilloff started at low-A his first year after being drafted. Royce Lewis played 18 games there the season he was drafted. Martin has been looking like a guy recently. It's a great development if he keeps it up.

Fun anomaly in the statcast data from the Saints game yesterday: Martin's home run definitely was not the longest ball hit in baseball this season (Ohtani has a 493-footer on record), but it was a laser beam shot onto the berm in LF. Wonder what caused it to register like that!

In Tuesday’s action, a former major-league pitcher looked to continue his re-ascension in St. Paul, an up-and-comer shoved again for Wichita, and high school draft picks from earlier this summer stood out in Fort Myers. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Pierson Ohl) TRANSACTIONS After his brief promotion to Triple-A, RHP Carlos Luna was assigned back to the Wind Surge on Tuesday. C David Banuelos was activated from the injured list for Wichita, while C Frank Nigro was transferred to the development list. Down in Fort Myers, RHP Matt Gabbert was assigned to the Mighty Mussels from the FCL, and C Dillon Tatum was also activated. RHP Johnathan Lavallee was released. SAINTS SENTINEL Indianapolis 8, St. Paul 5 Box Score Randy Dobnak has been on quite a run for the Saints lately, and he looked to continue that this week in a pair of starts against Indianapolis. To say it didn’t go his way in this one, would be an understatement, but it was not because he was bad. What I want you to focus on if you click that box score, is the fact he made it through four innings, and not that he allowed 11 hits in them. Because those 11 hits were mostly full of complete garbage that just found hole after hole or open grass. Even when he broke multiple hitter’s bats, they ended up going for hits. It was kind of upsetting. All that said, it still led to the Saints being down 7-1 after his outing was finally finished. Six of those went in the book as earned runs. He also walked three batters and struck out four. The Saints scratched across a run in the first inning. Andrew Stevenson led off the game by drawing a walk and stole his 39th base of the season. Kyle Garlick drove him in with a double. In the bottom of the sixth, Brooks Lee sent a liner past the center fielder, and ended up with his first triple with the Saints. Trevor Larnach drove him in with a sacrifice fly. In the eighth inning, Lee added another sacrifice fly that made it 8-3. Out of the bullpen, the Saints got two scoreless innings from Austin Brice after Dobnak’s exit. He walked one and struck out one. Cody Laweryson (2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, K), Kody Funderburk (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 K), and Austin Schulfer (1 IP, 1 H, K) completed the final three innings. In the bottom of the ninth, the Saints managed to get the tying run in the batter's box, but it wasn’t meant to be. Jair Camargo drew a one-out walk. Austin Martin sent his third home run with the Saints onto the berm in left field to make it 8-5. A pair of walks brought Lee to the plate, and he took a big hack to try and tie it up, but ended up grounding out to first before Trevor Larnach went down to end the game. The Saints cobbled together just five hits in the game. They were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and left only seven men on base. Stevenson reached base three times in five at-bats. Martin played in left field and had an outfield assist. WIND SURGE WISDOM Springfield 2, Wichita 5 Box Score Alex Isola and Patrick Winkel ambushed the Cardinals starter in the bottom of the first with back-to-back jacks for an early 2-0 lead. Isola’s blast was his third home run in his past four at-bats. Fresh off an eight-inning outing his last time out, starter Pierson Ohl was solid again in this one. He picked up his fifth win with a quality start. In six frames, he allowed two earned runs on just three hits and one walk. He punched out six. In three August outings, Ohl has a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings, going 3-0 and striking out 15 compared to just two walks. The Wind Surge added some insurance for their starter in the third inning with a two-out rally. The bash brothers from earlier, Isola and Winkel, started it by drawing a walk and knocking a single, respectively. Aaron Sabato then stepped in and launched his eighth home run of the season to make it 5-0 Wichita. Denny Bentley came on for the seventh inning and added two scoreless innings of relief. He allowed just one hit and struck out one. Miguel Rodriguez picked up his first save with a scoreless ninth. He worked around a pair of hits by striking out one. The three (Isola), four (Winkel), and five (Sabato) hitters for the Wind Surge combined to go 7-for-10 with all five runs scored, a double, three home runs, and all five RBI in this one. The rest of the lineup came up with just two hits in their 22 at-bats. Yoyner Fajardo stole his 41st base of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 1, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Score The Kernels got strong pitching performances from Kyle Jones and Jarret Whorff to keep the Timber Rattlers at bay most of the game. Jones got the starting nod and went the first four innings. He allowed just two hits, walked three, and struck out three in four scoreless innings. Whorff went the next three frames to pick up the win. He gave up just one hit, one walk, and struck out three. Cedar Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to Jorel Ortega’s seventh home run in the Midwest League, and 13th overall of the season. The home team made it 3-0 in the fifth after Carson McCusker’s fourth Kernels home run and an RBI groundout from Ben Ross. The Kernels finished off their scoring in the eighth when Noah Cardenas drew a walk with the bases loaded. They could have broken the game open then, as there were no outs and all four hitters had reached base, but the next three went down in order. Malik Barrington picked up his second save by finishing the final two innings. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out three. In the leadoff spot, Noah Miller went 2-for-4 with a double and scored a run. Ross drew two walks and scored a run. In addition to his home run, Ortega also drew two walks. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Midwest League RBI leader Kala’i Rosario both finished 1-for-4. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Palm Beach 2 Box Score Starting pitcher Juan Mercedes delivered a solid five innings to pick up his second win of the season. He allowed no runs, scattered six hits, and struck out three in five scoreless innings. The Mighty Mussels took the lead in the top of the second thanks to Danny De Andrade, who led off with a single, stole second base, and scored on a single from Rubel Cespedes. They added a pair of runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 5-0. Ricardo Olivar drove in two with a single in the fifth. Alec Sayre drove in one run with a bases loaded ground ball in the sixth, and Cespedes scored the second on a wild pitch. Wilker Reyes contributed three innings from the bullpen. He was charged with the Cardinals two runs on five hits, and struck out four. Ricardo Velez finished off the game with a scoreless ninth. He allowed one hit and struck out two. Fort Myers tacked on four runs in the ninth for an extra cushion. With the bases loaded, Nate Baez delivered a two-run single, and a third run scored on an error. Kyle Schmidt then drove in Baez to cap the scoring. Jay Harry (2-for-5, R, 2B, K), De Andrade (2-for-4, 2 R, BB, 2 SB), and Baez (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K) each had multiple hits. Luke Keaschall added a double, a walk, and scored two runs in four at-bats. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 7, FCL Braves 11 Box Score The Braves jumped all over Twins pitching early, and put enough distance between them to hold off a comeback from the Twins. Starting pitcher Eduardo Soriano was only able to record three outs, pitching into the second inning but not recording an out. He surrendered five runs (four earned) on four hits, a walk, and struck out one. Julio Bonilla came on and recorded six outs, but didn’t fare much better on the scoreboard. He allowed four runs on three hits and four walks. He did strike out four. Down 9-0 heading into the sixth, the Twins finally broke through. An error and singles from Isaac Pena and Walker Jenkins loaded the bases for Brandon Winokur, and an RBI groundball got them on the board. Harold Grant then cashed in the other two runners with a single to make it 9-3. In the seventh. a pair of walks preceded a pair of doubles from Endy Rodriguez and Winokur that made it 9-6. In the top of the ninth Walker Jenkins blasted his second home run as a pro, a solo shot to give the Twins their final tally on the scoreboard. Relievers Sean Mooney (1 IP, 2 K), Jefferson Lopez (3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K), and Miguel Olivares (1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB) accounted for the rest of the innings from the pitching staff. Jenkins (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI), Winokur (2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, K), and Grant (2-for-5, 2 RBI, K) led the way on offense with multiple hits. Winokur also had an outfield assist. Anderson Nova added a double. DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Angels 7, DSL Twins 1 (7 innings) Box Score Right fielder Jayson Bass went yard for the Twins in the bottom of the fourth inning, but that was basically it for the offense on the day. They collected just four hits as a team, were 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position, and left only two men on base for the game. They also didn’t draw a single walk. If there was a positive, they struck out only five times, so they were putting the ball in play. Carlos Silva, Ewing Matos, and Javier Roman each had a single to account for all of their hits. On the mound Leonardo Lugo got ambushed in the first two innings, but pushed through to finish three frames with a one-two-three third inning. He was charged with six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks. He struck out one. Reynel Garcia added two scoreless and hitless innings in relief of Lugo, then Eider Machuca (1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) and Oscar Paredes (1/3 IP) finished off the shortened seven inning contest. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day - Pierson Ohl, Wichita Wind Surge (W, 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) Hitter of the Day - Aaron Sabato, Wichita Wind Surge (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K) PROSPECT SUMMARY We have again updated our top 20 prospect list. Check out the full list here and how they performed on Tuesday below! #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, 3B, RBI, K #2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 2-for-5, 2 R, HR (2), RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, K #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, HR (3), 2 RBI #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K #9 - Brandon Winokur (FCL Twins) - 2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, K #10 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2 K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, 2 R, BB, 2 SB (14) #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-for-5, K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Indianapolis @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CDT) - RHP Louie Varland (7-0, 4.03 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Travis Adams (2-8, 6.24 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Christian MacLeod (4-0, 3.86 ERA) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 PM CDT) - RHP Ben Ethridge (2-5, 2.34 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! 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Walker JenkinsBrooks LeeEmmanuel RodriguezMarco RayaDavid FestaCharlee SotoAustin MartinConnor PrielippTanner SchobelLuke KeaschallBrandon WinokurYasser MercedesSimeon Woods RichardsonJordan BalazovicBrent HeadrickKala'i RosarioYunior SeverinoCory LewisMatt CanterinoNoah Miller

Walker JenkinsBrooks LeeEmmanuel RodriguezMarco RayaDavid FestaCharlee SotoAustin MartinConnor PrielippTanner SchobelLuke KeaschallBrandon WinokurYasser MercedesSimeon Woods RichardsonJordan BalazovicBrent HeadrickKala'i RosarioYunior SeverinoCory LewisMatt CanterinoNoah Miller

Winokur is going to be an interesting one to follow. He's a big kid already, and he's only 18 so I suspect he's going to get even taller. I like that he plays SS and the athleticism is definitely there, but in terms of the position, he's pretty much already outgrown it (think Oneil Cruz on the Pirates, the tallest SS in major league history at 6'7"). So a few of things he has no control over working against him there, but he's playing in the outfield already too. Definitely a great start!

He's been like that the entire season. Can definitely point to it as a contributor to struggles this season. This start was actually one where he was doing enough right for it not to matter, until they put him out for the sixth inning. I was watching the entire game and thought 100% he was, or should have been, done after the fifth. In that 6th he hung a couple changeups that went for the home runs.

R & B of MSP?!

Yup, wasn't saying it was great, and the more balls you allow to be put into play, the worse. But saying everything was "well hit" against Keuchel just wasn't true. Again, 4 of the Diamondbacks hits didn't even exceed 65 MPH. This is definitely who Keuchel is, but he's also been in the past, and so far with the Twins, one who succeeds despite this deficiency. If the Twins get this Keuchel more than they don't, it's a success, in my opinion.

To be quite blunt, looking at velocity only on the batted balls like this and using the data to say stuff was well struck, is not the reality. A line drive at 90 MPH is much different than a ground ball at 90 MPH. One is going to look good, the other is going to look routine. Launch angles play a role too, and is why there is this thing called "barrels" associated with exit velocity/launch angle. You point out 13 hits that you classify as "well hit," when in actuality, only 6 would be classified as barrels, while at least 10 of them would go into the "poorly hit" category. I'm not saying giving up 6 barrels is great, but it's a lot better than you're making it out to be. He also gave up four singles that didn't leave the bat at higher than 65 MPH. As a comparison in this game, Zac Gallen, arguably the far better pitcher, also gave up 4 barrels on 14 balls in play. This is my way of telling you each pitcher gave up the exact same percentage of barrels on ball in play.

I think the ABS system is playing a role in the hitters, for sure. For example, the average OPS in the league in 2022 was .750. This year it is .801 (The bats lead the league at .881, Saints are at .827). On-Base-Percentage is also up universally by about 20 points (.358). For comparison, average OPS and OBP in the majors this season is .733 and .320, respectively. So an "average" triple-A hitter this season is basically putting up All-Star numbers for the majors with how it has worked out. Hope Manfred is paying attention. If he wants more offense/action, this very likely is the way. At least should highly consider using the challenge-system version.

It took a lot for me to not mention what McAdoo did to their pitchers last night, so I'll add what the game summary from the Mussels said: "The performance marked the first time a Florida State League hitter notched six hits and drove in eight this year. Moreover, he set the Marauders franchise record for hits in a game." Absolutely monstrous performance!

Totally missed that. Has speed and the smarts too, apparently!

Not that anything was particularly difficult in the game yesterday, but Martin seemed to handle CF just fine. He has also only been playing the OF for the past few weeks.

The St. Paul Saints came home to face the Louisville Bats and one of their top prospects on Tuesday. It was also the first time Brooks Lee, Yunior Severino, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. got to play in front of their home fans. They were joined by a former top prospect on a rehab assignment. They combined to bash the visiting team into submission. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis) Despite all that action in St. Paul, the Wind Surge also got perhaps their best starting pitching performance of the season, The Mighty Mussels racked up a bunch of hits, and a high school draftee went yard again in the FCL to lead his team to victory. Also, Chris Williams loves hitting on Tuesday’s… TRANSACTIONS After the big promotions last week from Wichita, the St. Paul Saints got even more star power for their lineup in the form of a rehabbing Royce Lewis. He batted second and played third base on Tuesday. SAINTS SENTINEL Louisville 4, St. Paul 14 Box Score While the story for the home town fans was certainly Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee suiting up for the Saints on Tuesday, they had a tall order in front of them from an on-paper perspective. That’s because they were facing the 2023 minor league strikeout leader and Cincinnati Reds number five prospect (according to MLB Pipeline), Connor Phillips. Promoted to Triple-A before July, Phillips had been lights out with the Louisville Bats in six starts, compiling a 1.95 ERA in 27 2/3 IP, including 32 strikeouts. He didn’t even finish the second inning. That’s because St. Paul's lineup made him work, tossing 52 pitches in his 1 1/3 innings, with just 25 for strikes. He recorded strikeouts on the first two hitters of the game, but like my eyes peeped watching on MiLB.tv (highly recommend if you’re still looking for a baseball fix, and/or are not able to watch the Twins), the lineup figured out he could only throw a slider with two-strikes and didn’t have command of his fastball to make anything else work. He ended up walking three, and allowing five earned runs on three hits, including allowing his first home run at Triple-A to Trevor Larnach in the second inning. It was Larnach's 10th with the Saints. Yunior Severino also launched his first Triple-A home run, and 25th of the season, in the third inning which made it 7-0 Saints early. Both home runs cleared the home run porch in right field, flying 460+ feet. (of note, the next time he came up Bats pitcher Randy Wynne quite obviously plunked Severino in retaliation and was ejected for it) Royce Lewis also had no intention of going unnoticed in the first game of his rehab assignment, launching his fifth Triple-A home run of the season in the fourth after a sac fly in the second. He finished 1-for-4 with two RBI. The Saints really broke it open in the fifth inning after the Wynne ejection and the bases became loaded. Austin Martin delivered an RBI single for one, before Chris Williams delivered a grand slam to make it 13-1. The Saints even got a solid outing from Simeon Woods Richardson, keeping the top hitting team in the International League at bay for most of his outing. Through five innings, Woods Richardson had allowed just one run on two hits and three walks, and maybe should have been pulled at that point with the big lead. Back out for the sixth, he recorded two more outs, but got tagged with two home runs to dampen his stat line. He struck out three in his 5 2/3 innings, picking up his fourth win of the year. Austin Schulfer delivered 1 1/3 scoreless relief innings, walking one and striking out two. Cole Sands finished off the final two frames, allowing two hits and notching four strikeouts. Martin finished 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, a double, RBI, walk, and his seventh stolen base. Williams was 2-for-4 with a walk and five RBI. Larnach also collected multiple hits and finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored in addition to the homer. Anthony Prato clubbed a double in two at-bats, drew three walks, scored three runs, and drove in one. Brooks Lee picked up his first hit at CHS Field in front of the home fans and finished 1-for-5. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 2 Box Score The Wind Surge got a dominant effort from their starting pitcher, Pierson Ohl, on Tuesday, who very well could have gone the distance with 84 pitches (61 strikes) after his eight innings. He allowed just one run in the first inning, scattered seven hits, and struck out four on the night. Wichita pounced for two runs in the top of the first to give almost all the run support he would need to pick up his fourth win. Yoyner Fajardo led off the game with a single, stole his 35th and 36th bases, and scored the first run on a groundout from Alex Isola. A Seth Gray RBI single later scored Tanner Schobel, who drew a walk, for the early 2-0 lead. Dalton Shuffield added a sacrifice fly in the sixth, Fajardo an RBI double in the seventh, and Willie Joe Garry Jr. RBI triple in the eighth accounted for all five of the Wind Surge runs. Fajardo (2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, 3 K), Aaron Sabato (2-for-3, R, 2B, BB, K), and Garry Jr. (2-for-4, 2 3B, RBI, 2 K) had multiple hits in the win. Miguel Rodriguez pitched the ninth inning, and surrendered one earned run on one hit. He struck out two batters. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 7 Box Score Cedar Rapids hit the road eastward to the Quad Cities area, renewing the in-state rivalry for their series this week. While the Kernels sit atop the Midwest League West Division standings and the River Bandits the bottom, you can usually throw any of that info out when these teams face off. Case in point, Tuesday’s shutout of the visiting team. The Kernels drew seven walks as a team, but combined those with just two hits in the game. They were both doubles (from Ben Ross and Kyler Fedko), but came with nobody on base. As a team they were just 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. Zebby Matthews made the start for Cedar Rapids and made it through 4 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and a pair of walks. He struck out six batters. Two home runs allowed did most of that damage. The bullpen trio of Niklas Rimmel (1 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB, K), John Stankiewicz (1 2/3 IP, 3 K), and John Wilson (1 IP, H, K) worked the rest of the game. Emmanuel Rodriguez finished 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Jorel Ortega was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. In addition to his double, Kyler Fedko also drew two walks. MUSSEL MATTERS Bradenton 13, Fort Myers 9 Box Score The Mighty Mussels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first on Danny De Andrade’s eighth home run of the season that made it 2-0. They went up 4-2 in the second after an RBI-double from Maddux Houghton and a wild pitch that later allowed him to scamper home. Unfortunately, that was the last lead they held the rest of the game. Fort Myers starter Jose Olivares finished the first four innings and got a lot of swings and misses, but was tagged for five runs (four earned) in his time on the mound. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out nine. Samuel Perez was charged with three earned runs on two hits and three walks in his 2/3 of an inning. Johnathan Lavallee (1 1/3 IP, H, 3 BB, K), Wilker Reyes (2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K), and Develson Aria (1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K) finished out the game for the Mighty Mussels, with the same type of results as Olivares. The 18 K’s from the staff pitching were impressive, but paired with 10 walks and 13 hits, you end up with a result like this. The lineup added a pair of runs in the eighth inning when De Andrade led off with a single and advanced to second on an error. A groundout from Rubel Cespedes brought him home before Jay Harry’s second double of the season gave them six on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the ninth down 13-6, they added a few more runs but fell short of an epic comeback. A pair of walks preceded put runners on for De Andrade, who drove them both in with a double. Rafael Cruz then scored De Andrade with a single for the final score. De Andrade (3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and Cruz (4-for-5, 2B, RBI) had multiple hits to lead the offense. Each other hitter had one knock, and they totaled 14 hits as a team in the loss. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Pirates 2, FCL Twins 3 Box Score Twins starter Eduardo Soriano delivered a scoreless first inning, but some walks caught up with him in the second. He finished 1 2/3 innings and was charged with two runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks. He struck out three. In the bottom of the second, the Twins put together a two-out rally thanks to some walks of their own. After loading the bases, Andres Centeno delivered a two-RBI single to tie the game. In the third, Brandon Winokur raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run to make it 3-2. It was his second home run in nine games. That would be all the Twins needed, as the bullpen shut down the Pirates from there. Julio Bonilla (W, 3 1/3 IP, H, BB, K), Jeferson Lopez (H, 3 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 3 K), and Miguel Olivares (2/3 IP, BB, 2 K) all delivered scoreless outings and as a staff the Twins held the Pirates to just two hits in the game. Walker Jenkins followed Winokur’s blast with a single in the third and finished 1-for-3. Daniel Pena added the Twins' only other hit. DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Giants Orange 6, DSL Twins 6 (suspended in the bottom of the fifth) Box Score The Giants and Twins were only able to get through four-plus innings on Tuesday before the game was suspended, but in that time there was a lot of action. Starting pitcher Reynel Garcia got the short end of the stick because of his defense in the first, being charged with three unearned runs on only one hit. Oscar Paredes had a one-two-three second inning, before Adrian Bohorquez gave the bulk of the pitching work. In 2 2/3 innings, he allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits. He also struck out five. Jose Ojo got the final out of the fifth before the game was suspended. The Twins scored two in the first after loading the bases on a Junior Del Valle two-run single. They added three more in the third on a Moises Lopez double to score Dameury Pena, Jesus Peraza ground ball to score Lopez, and a wild pitch that allowed Carlos Silva to score. They scored their sixth run in the fourth when Pena and Del Valle each clubbed a double. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day - Pierson Ohl, Wichita Wind Surge (W, 8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K) Hitter of the Day - Chris Williams, St. Paul Saints (2-for-4, 2 R, Grand Slam, 5 RBI, BB) PROSPECT SUMMARY #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) -1-for-5, K #2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL) - 1-for-3 #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K #5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 2 K #8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 3-for-3, 2 R, 2B (6), RBI, BB, SB (7) #10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K #12 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, BB, K #13 - Brandon Winokur (FCL) - 1-for-4, R, HR (2), RBI, K #14 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - W, 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 earned) 4 BB, 3 K #16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, K #17 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2 R, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 K #20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL) - 0-for-3, 2 K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ St. Paul (1:07 PM CDT) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-5, 4.33 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Carlos Luna (1-7, 5.54 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CDT) - RHP Kyle Jones (5-4, 4.52 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - TBD DSL Reds @ DSL Twins (makeup of 7/26 postponement) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! 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I would argue they have the perfect situation for him to make starts. Go 6-man, or have him pitch the days they skip someone. It's obvious to me the starting staff is wearing down at this point. Which is not uncommon, but what was their strength early isn't so much anymore.