Tom Froemming

The Minnesota Twins lost another frustrating, wet game in Cleveland. I don’t wanna talk about it. Down on the farm, Tanner Schobel and Ricardo Olivar powered the Wind Surge and Cole Peschl had another impressive outing for the Mighty Mussels. There’s highlights of those three plus all the info from across the minors in tonight’s recap. View full video

The Minnesota Twins finished off a sweep of the Angels Sunday behind a dominant performance from Joe Ryan. Carlos Correa’s bat finally came around, as he had a three-hit game to finish off a strong series. From the minor leagues, today’s recap includes some highlights of Jose Olivares, Danny De Andrade and Kaelen Culpepper of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. View full video

The Minnesota Twins were walked off in Cleveland as the lineup had a very quiet night, scoring just one run. The pitching staff held up its end once again, as the game was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Kyle Manzardo hit a walk-off homer off Louis Varland to end it. The minor league segment of tonight’s recap includes updates on Adrian Bohorquez, Charlee Soto and Walker Jenkins as well as some defensive highlights from the Cedar Rapids infield of Khadim Diaw, Billy Amick, Kyle DeBarge, Kaelen Culpepper and Danny De Andrade. View full video

Royce Lewis is back … with the Saints. He started a rehab assignment in St. Paul Friday and checked a lot of boxes. He hit, he played the field, he ran the bases and, most importantly, he came out of it unscathed. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Royce Lewis) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 10-16 St. Paul Saints: 10-12 Wichita Wind Surge: 11-8 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 11-7 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 10-9 TRANSACTIONS - Royce Lewis joined St. Paul on a rehab assignment. - The Twins outrighted catcher Diego Cartaya off the 40-man roster, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Cartaya is 2-for-25 with 18 strikeouts in 29 plate appearances for the Saints so far this season, so it was a good time to try to pass him through waivers. He’ll remain with St. Paul but is no longer occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. The Twins haven’t made a corresponding move yet. - LHP Aaron Rozek was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul. - IF Dalton Shuffield was transferred to the development list. SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1: Indianapolis 10, St. Paul 0 Box Score Royce Lewis checked all the boxes. He was 1-for-3 at the plate with a double he hit 101.4 mph, so it was great he had the opportunity to run the bases. That he played the field in his first game back was noteworthy in itself, but he didn’t exactly excel defensively tonight. Playing third base, Lewis’ first chance came in the second inning. He had to range into foul territory to grab a ground ball hit 106.7 mph. He unleashed a two-hopper throw across the diamond that first baseman Yunior Severino couldn’t scoop. To add injury to insult, Severino hurt himself on the stretch and had to exit the game. Later in the second inning, Lewis had to come in on a sky-high chopper and whiffed while trying to catch it on the way down. Both those chances for Lewis were scored singles, and while they weren’t routine, you’d expect the average MLB third baseman to make those play. It’s fair to expect Lewis to be a bit rusty, but I don’t think that’s going to help Marco Raya feel any better about it. While Raya was his own worst enemy tonight, he could have used some extra help. He lasted just 1 2/3 innings after throwing only 30 of his 55 pitches for strikes and walking three batters. He gave up seven runs on six hits. Back to Lewis, he made a nice pick and on-the-run throw to record the final out of the fifth inning. He also ended the top of the sixth inning with a 5-1 putout, so it’s not as if he didn’t make any plays in the field. Royce hit his double in the bottom of the sixth and ran the bases, but after that his night was over. He did not play in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader, as was to be expected. Another rehabbing Twin appeared in this game: Michael Tonkin. He surrendered a pair of homers over his 1 1/3 innings. He also gave up two home runs in his first rehab appearance for St. Paul. Tonkin threw 40 pitches — 26 of them for strikes — and topped out at 93.3 mph. That’s closer to what his fastball averaged last year, though velocity is never going to be his calling card. Game 2: St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 0 Box Score The legend of Darren McCaughan continues! He made a great impression in his brief three-game cameo with the Twins earlier this month and continued to impress in his outing for the Saints tonight. McCaughan pitched five innings of shutout, one-hit ball while racking up seven strikeouts and issuing a pair of walks. He’s only given up one unearned run over 12 innings with the Saints this year. The 29-year-old righty only topped out at 91.7 mph, but he got 12 whiffs, including a handful with his four-seam fastball. After getting shutout in the first game, the Saints got on the board early in Game 2. Patrick Winkel crushed a home run in the second inning that had an exit velocity of 107.4 mph. The score remained 1-0 until Carson McCusker drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Another run came across on a wild pitch to give St. Paul some more insurance. Lefty Anthony Misiewicz completed the seven-inning shutout by covering the final two frames and picking up a pair of strikeouts in the process. He earned his second save of the season. Emmanuel Rodriguez did not play in either game today due to a left thumb strain, per Theodore Tollefson of Zone Coverage. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Springfield 1 Box Score Productive outs were the difference for the Wind Surge tonight. It’s not easy to only get four hits, go 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and still win, but they pulled it off. Kyler Fedko led off the second inning with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and then scored on a ground out to give Wichita a 1-0 lead early. With the score knotted at 1-1 in the seventh, Aaron Sabato drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, got to third on a ground out to the first baseman and scored on a sac fly. It was a grind, but that was all the offense the Wichita pitching staff needed. Darren Bowen continued his hot start to the season by delivering five innings of one-run ball. He gave up four hits — all singles — and did not walk a batter. Bowen had three strikeouts and needed just 55 pitches to complete five frames. He has a 1.50 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 18 innings for the Wind Surge. Pretty impressive for his first impression in Double-A. In his first game back from rehab assignment, Pierson Ohl struck out four batters over three one-hit innings of shutout ball. Joel Cesar protected the one-run lead in the ninth and picked up his second save of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 1, Cedar Rapids 0 Box Score Alejandro Hidalgo fell off the radar to some degree, as he missed the entire 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. There have been some rough edges to his performance so far upon his return, but he’s also been very tough to hit. Hidalgo only surrendered one hit over five shutout innings for the Kernels tonight. He struck out seven and walked four. He’s struggled with command, but opponents have only hit .164 off him and Hidalgo has struck out 25 batters in 16 innings. The Twins acquired him in November of 2022 in a trade that sent Gio Urshela to the Angels. Hits were incredibly tough to come by in this game for both teams. The only run scored of the entire game was driven in on a double play. Danny De Andrade had the only Cedar Rapids extra-base hit, a double. He also drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth after falling behind 0-2, advanced to second base on an error and stole third, but the Kernels couldn’t bring him around to score. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched a scoreless inning for Cedar Rapids. The 2023 12th-round pick hasn’t surrendered a run in 10 innings pitched so far this season. MUSSEL MATTERS Clearwater 4, Fort Myers 3 Box Score The Mussels carried a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning in Clearwater tonight, but could not seal the deal. Clearwater ended the shutout that inning, tied it up in the seventh inning and walked it off in the ninth. Things were going good for Fort Myers in the early going largely due to Cole Peschl, who is doing his best to demand some attention. The Twins 15th-round pick out of Campbell University in North Carolina, Peschl delivered five shutout innings while striking out nine batters. He hasn’t given up a run over his first 14 innings of pro ball and has 19 strikeouts. Peschl got 19 whiffs, 12 of them on his slider. Per Statcast, the right-hander threw 26 sliders, 22 cutters, 17 four-seamers, 12 curveballs and three changeups. He topped out at 93.1 mph. Getting hits continued to be a challenge for young Yasser Mercedes, but he managed to draw a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch. He also stole four bases. Four! Mercedes is up to nine steals in 18 games so far this season and he hasn’t been thrown out. Last year, he went 21-for-26 in stolen base attempts over 61 games. Jay Thomason had the only Fort Myers extra-base hit, a double. He hit two balls in excess of 104 mph tonight, and has been consistently taking some of the biggest swings of anybody I’ve seen in the system so far this year. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Cole Peschl, Fort Myers (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K) Hitter of the Day: Patrick Winkel, St. Paul (2-for-5, 2B, HR, R, RBI) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. And, you can help us update our Top 20 prospects by ranking your top 20 Twins prospects. Voting has started. Rank now. 3. Luke Keaschall (Twins): 0-for-0, HBP (exited after being hit by a pitch on his right wrist, fractured) 6. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 1 K 8. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, SB (5) 15. Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers): 0-for-2, 2 BB, HBP, 4 SB (9), K 17. Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, 2 K 18. Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 1-for-4, K 19. Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4 TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Indianapolis, 2:07 pm CT: LHP Aaron Rozek Wichita vs. Springfield, 4:05 pm CT: LHP Connor Prielipp Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin, 1:05 pm CT: RHP Tanner Hall Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:30 pm CT: LHP Dasan Hill View full article

It was a series between two teams badly struggling to open 2025, and instead of the Minnesota Twins continuing to build momentum it’s been Atlanta who appears to be getting right. Byron Buxton had a great game and the Twins carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning but could not finish it off. Down on the farm, Pablo López made a rehab start for the Saints, Kyler Fedko already surpassed his 2024 home run total and both Cole Peschl and Jay Thomason impressed for the Mighty Mussels. All that and more in tonight’s System Recap. View full video

Incorrect. You can sign guys to two-year minor league deals, but that's the max. A recent example was Adbert Alozay's two-year minors deal with the Mets.

I know you didn't ask me, and I'd also be curious of what anybody else thinks, but here's my two cents: Yunior looks more lean to my eye this season. Not sure, but that may be part of why he's getting some looks at second base again. In the majors, he'd probably only be a 1B/DH, but it's a bonus he could be an emergency option at 3B/2B/RF if needed. Being a switch hitter who traditionally has very even platoon splits is a nice bonus, too, so he might have a broader set of skills to bring to a bench role. Whether that matters would depend on the team need at any given time. I don't have a clue why McCusker has never had even a look at 1B. There's a lot more to playing there than just being tall, of course, but it's a pretty massive advantage. I have to believe they've at least toyed with the idea of him at first on a backfield or something and it went so poorly they didn't further explore the option. McCusker moves around a lot better than you might imagine for a guy who's 6-foot-8, but I believe he's comfortably below MLB average on defense. Not a complete butcher, but you're giving something up by putting him out there. Keep in mind that the bar is very high. We've seen recent Twins outfields with Bader and Keirsey in the corners, which is just remarkable. Even watching a lot of the minor league games, defensive evaluation is still pretty tough to feel super confident on. You can watch a lot of a team and not see a guy be presented with a difficult play even once. Still, I don't view Severino or McCusker to be an asset anywhere in the field. I don't view either of these guys as anywhere near the level of Matt Wallner. Between the two, McCusker has better raw power, but Yunior has as good of in-game power. I think that they called up Keachall over these two (or the several other options in St. Paul) says a lot about how they feel about them. I know they adore Luke, but this feels like it would have been as good a time as any for some of these other guys to get their shot.

Nope. He’ll be 27 next month and has a career 31.1 K% in the minors. Very fun player, might be a Major Leaguer before too long, but there’s limited utility.

The doctor was in. Jason Doktorczyk, that is. Dr. K struck out 10 batters over five innings of work for Fort Myers tonight. Find out everything else that happened in the Minnesota Twins minor league system Friday. Image courtesy of © Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK (photo of Luke Keaschall) CURRENT W-L Records St. Paul Saints: 7-9 Wichita Wind Surge: 6-7 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 7-5 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 6-7 TRANSACTIONS 2B/DH Luke Keaschall promoted to Minnesota. UTIL Mickey Gasper optioned to St. Paul. RHP Matt Canterino designated for assignment. RHP Michael Tonkin sent on rehab assignment to Fort Myers. Fort Myers placed RHP Billy Oldham on the full-season injured list. Keaschall’s promotion became official today. For more on what to expect from the Twins rookie, check out this morning’s article from Jamie Cameron. Gasper was a feel-good story, but hit .111/.273/.111 (.384 OPS) in 22 plate appearances over 10 games for the Twins. Canterino was first added to the 40-man roster back in November of 2022. His arm talent is undeniable, but the 27-year-old former second-round pick has seldom been healthy enough to pitch. He had shoulder surgery about a month ago and will miss all of 2025. It’ll be curious to see if he gets claimed off waivers. My uneducated guess is he clears waivers and re-signs a two-year minor league deal with the Twins. We’ll see. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Iowa 8 Box Score The I-Cubs jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the end of the third inning, but the Saints exploded for eight runs over the next two frames. Carson McCusker delivered the haymaker, a three-run homer hit 106.1 mph to dead center. It was his third home run of the week. Luke Keaschall? Who needs ‘em!? The Saints lineup tallied 11 runs on 12 hits, drew a handful of walks and was 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Anthony Prato played center field and had a three-hit night. McCusker and Yunior Severino each had a pair of hits. Jeferson Morales hit his second home run of the season and drew two walks. Randy Dobnak had a rough night, surrendering five runs over his four innings pitched. Saints pitchers combined to issue nine walks and the lineup combined for 16 strikeouts, but St. Paul still managed to win this one. That’s tough to do! WIND SURGE WISDOM Tulsa 7, Wichita 6 Box Score Wichita got things going early, as back-to-back singles by Ricardo Olivar and Rubel Cespedes were followed by a Kala’i Rosario home run to give the Wind Surge a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. They tacked on another trio of runs in the fourth inning, as Aaron Sabato swatted a two-run dinger and Tyler Dearden made it back-to-back bombs. Sabato was 4-for-4 tonight. Burnsville native Aaron Rozek struck out eight batters while not issuing a walk over five innings. The only two runs he surrendered were on solo homers. Jaylen Nowlin was the first man out of the bullpen and stumbled. He hit a batter, walked two more and then gave up a game-tying grand slam. Ouch. The score remained tied at 6-6 until the bottom of the ninth inning. Tulsa got three consecutive singles off Cody Laweryson to walk it off. Tough loss. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 3 (suspended in the top of the fourth inning) Box Score The Kernels were lighting up the scoreboard early in this game, but the rain rolled in in the top of the fourth inning. Cedar Rapids had already built an 8-3 lead by then, thanks in large part to Nate Baez, who was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Both Billy Amick and Khadim Diaw also had multiple hits. Kernels starter Alejandro Hidalgo may have gone at least one more inning had it not been for the delay. He gave up three runs in three frames but also struck out four batters. They’ll pick this game back up tomorrow at 5 pm, then play another seven-inning contest after a 45-minute break between games. MUSSEL MATTERS Bradenton 6, Fort Myers 1 Box Score Jason Doktorczyk looked great in the first inning, retiring the side in order with a pair of strikeouts. Shortstop Angel Del Rosario committed an error to open the second inning, and things unraveled from there. Three hits, a hit batter and another error later, Bradenton had a 3-0 lead. Doktorzyk, a ninth-round pick in 2024, recovered from that rocky second inning to put together an impressive start. The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out 10 batters and did not issue a walk over five innings pitched, throwing 49 of his 71 pitches for strikes (69%). He heavily featured his changeup, throwing that pitch 24 times, per Statcast. Doktorzky only gave up four hits — all singles — and the three runs scored against him were all unearned. Michael Tonkin, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, made his first rehab appearance for Fort Myers. He struck out three batters over two innings and gave up an unearned run on a pair of hits. Tonkin topped out at 93.1 mph, which is closer to what his fastball averaged last season. He threw 19 of his 24 pitches for strikes. The Mussels lineup was hitless through seven innings, but Jose Rodriguez capped an at-bat in which he fouled off three two-strike pitches with a home run. Byron Chourio added a single in the ninth inning for the only other Fort Myers hit. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Jason Dokrorczyk, Fort Myers (5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) Hitter of the Day: Aaron Sabato, Wichita (4-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 2. Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 0-for-5, RBI, 2 K 3. Luke Keaschall (Twins): 2-for-4, 2B, SB, R, RBI 8. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3 13. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-3 15. Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers): 0-for-2, 2 BB, K 17. Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-2, 2 R 18. Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 2-for-4, HR (2), SB (3), R, 2 RBI, 2 K 19. Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-2, 2B, 2 R 20. Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 1-for-4, BB, R, K TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul at Iowa, 3:08 pm CT: Darren McCaughan Wichita at Tulsa, 1 pm CT: Connor Prielipp Wichita at Tulsa, 6 pm CT: Darren Bowen Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 5 pm CT: Continuation of Friday's game Cedar Rapids at Peoria, Game 2: Tanner Hall Fort Myers vs. Bradenton, 5:05 pm CT: Dasan Hill View full article

The Minnesota Twins are calling up prospect Luke Keaschall. With several players injured, the Twins are turning to one of their top prospects for help. Keaschall just made his Triple-A debut this season and is still somewhat limited defensively due to hsi recovery from Tommy John surgery, but there’s nothing limited about his approach at the plate. About as professional a hitter as you could find in the minors, Keashcall has responded well to every test the Twins have given him to date. View full video

The Minnesota Twins entered the bottom of the eighth inning up 3-0. Typically that’s a recipe for success, but the Mets got to Griffin Jax and tied the game. It felt like it was going to be another painful loss, but instead the Twins responded. Jhoan Duran and Cole Sands bought the lineup some more time and Ty France plated Byron Buxton on a walk-off single in the 10th inning. Down on the farm, Carson McCusker hit a pair of homers in what was a blowout loss for the Saints and the Mighty Mussels pitching staff flexed its muscles. View full video

The Minnesota Twins beat the Mets 6-3 Tuesday night at Target Field, but both Matt Wallner and Carlos Correa exited due to injury. We can’t have nice things. Zebby Matthews dominated for the Saints and Brock Stewart looked good in his first rehab appearance for Fort Myers. Other players discussed in tonight’s recap include Byron Buxton, Bailey Ober, Ryan Jeffers, Brooks Lee, Michael Carpenter, Carson McCusker, Billy Amick, Byron Chourio, Travis Adams, Luke KEaschall, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Tanner Schobel. View full video

This episode highlights some fun facts included in my most recent zine (link below), but opens up with some Minnesota Twins news items and minor league stats. Players discussed include Charlee Soto, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Tanner Schobel, Edouardo Beltre, Travis Adams, Alex Speas, Tanner Schobel, Spencer Bengard, Byron Chourio View full video

The Minnesota Twins finally put together a complete team game Sunday at Target Field and beat Detroit 5-1, avoiding a sweep. Sminon Woods Richardson delivered a solid start and the bullpen was nearly perfect for four innings. Byron Buxton provided the spark at the plate, hitting a home run in the first inning and later adding a hustle double. Edouard Julien also homered, and wore the new celebration item: A Spartan warrior’s helmet. There’s more discussion on that game plus all of the minor league action from Sunday. View full video

The Twins lost again Saturday, falling to the Tigers 4-0. Rough. Have we seen the last of Jose Miranda on the Twins now that Brooks Lee is healthy? I have news items, injury updates, transactions and results to go over in addition to discussing strong performances from Dasan Hill and Kyle DeBarge. View full video