Tom Froemming

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Dasan Hill) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 34-30 St. Paul Saints: 30-29 Wichita Wind Surge: 29-27 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 32-23 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 26-30 FCL Twins: 15-10 DSL Twins: 1-4 TRANSACTIONS There were a ton of moves today, so let’s break things down by affiliate. St. Paul: The Twins sent Michael Tonkin back on a rehab assignment with the Saints. He was already on rehab assignment with the Saints from late-April through early-May, but things weren’t going so well (9.39 ERA in 7 2/3 innings). Here’s hoping Tonkin looks refreshed after taking about a month off. The Saints also received Maddux Houghton, who is coming up all the way from down in Fort Myers. Houghton, 26, also made the jump from Low A to Triple A at one point last year. Wichita: RHP Cole Percival was assigned to the Wind Surge. He had a 2.70 ERA in nine games with Cedar Rapids. Yes, he is the son of former All-Star closer Troy Percival. He surfaced with the Twins after being released by the Yankees in late-April, where he had been pitching for their Double-A affiliate. Also, LHP Christian MacLeod was placed on the 7-day IL. Cedar Rapids: RHP Jacob Kisting was assigned to the Kernels. The Twins 14th-round pick from last year’s draft, Kisting hasn’t pitched to a very impressive ERA for Fort Myers (3.97) but has been missing bats. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has 41 strikeouts in 34 innings of relief this season. Fort Myers: RHP Matt Gabbert, who is rehabbing his way to Cedar Rapids, has been assigned to the Mighty Mussels. He had a 3.86 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 14 innings with the FCL Twins. FCL Twins: New signee Sam Rochard was assigned to the FCL Twins. He had a 1.17 ERA in 23 innings for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. Also, OF Byron Chourio started a rehab assignment with the FCL Twins. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Scranton/WIlkes-Barre 1 Box Score SP: Darren McCaughan (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) HR: Maddux Houghton (1) Sean Aronson, Saints Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations, asked manager Toby Gardenhire about Houghton before today’s game. “You don’t get to come from A-ball all the way up to Triple-A unless you’re a polished player, unless everybody really likes you,” Gardenhire told Aronson. “We love having him here, he’s a really good defender in center field. Hopefully he’ll go out there and get a couple hits for us tonight. ” Houghton didn’t quite meet those hopes, but I think his manager will still be pleased. While Houghton fell shy of collecting a couple hits, the one hit he had was a big one. He got the Saints on the board in the fifth inning by blasting his first Triple-A homer. The Saints then grinded out a single run in each of the next three innings. Edouard Julien plated a run in the sixth inning with a two-out single, they scored on an RBI groundout by Payton Eeles in the seventh inning and Anthony Prato hit a sac fly in the eighth. Darren McCaughan picked up the win after throwing five shutout innings. Michael Tonkin was the first man out of the Saints bullpen. He’s back on a rehab assignment after taking the last month off. He pitched a scoreless sixth inning, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out a batter. He topped out at 94.5 mph and sat 93.2 mph with his four-seamer, which basically where that pitch was last season. That’s a great sign, since last time around Tonkin’s velo was consistently not reaching those 2024 levels. Kyle Bischoff covered the seventh and eighth innings before Richard Lovelady earned his fifth save of the season for the Saints. Miranda was the only St. Paul hitter with multiple hits. He was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Carson McCusker was 0-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts at the plate, but he threw out a runner at the plate in the top of the fifth inning when the score was still tied 0-0. WIND SURGE WISDOM Northwest Arkansas 6, Wichita 4 Box Score SP: Connor Prielipp (4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) HR: None Connor Prielipp took a big step this evening. For the first time in 21 career pro starts, Prielipp recorded outs in the fifth inning. In fact, he was inches away from completing five innings for the first time. The final batter he faced hit a grounder that Aaron Sabato had to go to his right to get. He made the toss to Prielipp, but the speedy runner barely beat him to the bag. Prielipp was in attack mode, pounding the strike zone and working quickly. He threw 44 of his 60 pitches for strikes, an eye-popping 73.3%. For reference, the MLB average strike rate is 63.8% this season. He struck out five batters, did not issue a walk and the only run he surrendered was unearned. Preilipp’s ERA is down to 3.13 and he’s struck out 40 batters in 31 2 /3 innings. Jacob Wosinski , the first man out of Wichita’s bullpen, gave up five runs over an inning of work and the lineup couldn’t mount enough of a rally to come back from that. Ricardo Olivar was the only Wind Surge hitter to reach safely twice, as he was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Kyler Fedko, Aaron Sabato and Rubel Cespedes all hit doubles. Kala'i Rosario also stole his ninth base of the season. Tyler Dearden was ejected from this game in the top of the fifth inning for arguing the strike zone from the dugout. He didn’t appreciate a call during his at-bat, then the next Wichita hitter also appeared to have a call go against him. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score SP: Alejandro Hidalgo (5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K) HR: None With the Kernels down to their last strike in the top of the ninth inning, Kyle DeBarge ripped a game-tying double past the third baseman. Wisconsin managed to answer in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off. The game-winning rally started with a bloop single, followed by a walk and a sacrifice fly. Then Kernels pitcher Hunter Hoopes uncorked a walk-off wild pitch. Tough way to eventually lose after battling back. Alejandro Hidalgo is getting his feel for pitching back after missing the entire 2024 season due to a shoulder injury. It’s been a mixed bag in the early going, but he was great tonight. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out seven batters over five innings, and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. DeBarge had a pair of doubles and Rayne Doncon was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 1 Box Score SP: Dasan Hill (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K) HR: None Dasan Hill is off to an incredible start to his pro career. He turned in four innings of shutout ball tonight, surrendering just two hits and a walk. The 6-foot-5 lefty struck out seven of the 15 batters he faced tonight, topping out at 96.8 mph. Among Hill’s 62 pitches, 19 were sinkers, 18 were changeups, 14 were curveballs, 10 were sliders and he threw one four-seamer (per Baseball Savant/Statcast data). He got 11 swinging strikes, six of which came on his curveball. Hill, 19, now has a 1.50 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 24 innings this season. After Hill’s night was over, Adrian Bohorquez took over. It’s been a tough go for him this year, as he entered tonight with a 11.85 ERA in 13 2/3 innings, but maybe tonight will be a turning point. Bohorquez limited Palm Beach to one run over four innings and struck out five batters. He topped out at 96.5 mph and got a dozen swinging strikes. Yohander Martinez was involved in both of the Mussels' scoring plays. The first run of the game was scored when Martinez reached on an error with two outs in the fourth inning. He later broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning by hitting a two-out, two-run double. Walker Jenkins was 1-for-3 and played center field for seven innings. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Red Sox 5, FCL Twins 1 Box Score SP: Joel Garcia (3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K) HR: None There wasn’t much to highlight from this one, to be honest. The Twins only mustered three hits, struck out 12 times and committed three errors. Joel Garcia, the starting pitcher, racked up five Ks in just three innings, but he also surrendered three runs. Brent Francisco, who the Twins signed from the Washington WildThings of the independent Frontier League, was the standout performer in this one. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out four batters in two scoreless innings of work. Byron Chourio, who had last played May 11, went 1-for-4 with a double in his first rehab game. He drove in the only run for the Twins DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 9, DSL Yankees 4 Box Score SP: Angel Castillo (1/3 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K) HR: Jhomnardo Reyes (1), Teilon Serrano (1) The DSL Twins are in the win column! The lineup made up for dud of a start from Angel Castillo by scoring four runs in each of the first two innings. Three Twins runs in the first frame were scored without the benefit of a hit. There were a pair of bases loaded walks and a run scoring wild pitch. The big blow of the second inning came when 17-year-old Dominican center fielder and A+ name Jhomnardo Reyes hit a three-run homer. Teilon Serrano added a home run of his own in the third inning. It was the first professional home run for both Reyes and Serrano, who each have an OPS north of 1.500 in the very early goings for the DSL Twins. Serrano reached base three times and stole a base. Castillo opened the game with a strikeout, but then walked each of the next three batters. Eliezer Lucena allowed two of those inherited runners to score, but the 17-year-old Venezuelan right-hander stabilized the game by throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Dasan Hill, Fort Myers (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K) Hitter of the Day: Teilon Serrano, DSL Twins (2-for-3, HR, BB, SB, 3 R, RBI, K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 1. Walker Jenkins (rehabbing with Fort Myers): 1-for-3 5. Connor Prielipp (Wichita): 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K 6. Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-5, K 9. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4 10. Dasan Hill (Fort Myers): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K 11. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI, 2 K 17. Tanner Schobel (St. Paul): 1-for-2, 2B, BB, R, K 19. Carson McCusker (St. Paul): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K 20. Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 1-for-3, BB, R TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 2:07 pm CT: Simeon Woods Richardson Wichita at Northwest Arkansas, 2:05 pm CT: Aaron Rozek Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 1:10 pm CT: Tanner Hall Fort Myers vs. Palm Beach, 11:05 am CT: Michael Carpenter View full article

Image courtesy of © Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 34-29 St. Paul Saints: 29-29 Wichita Wind Surge: 29-26 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 32-22 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 25-30 FCL Twins: 15-9 DSL Twins: 0-4 TRANSACTIONS RHP Travis Adams recalled by the Twins; LHP Kody Funderburk optioned to St. Paul. LHP Danny Coulombe was sent on a rehab assignment to St. Paul. RHP Cody Laweryson promoted to St. Paul. RHP Jacob Wosinski promoted to Wichita. SAINTS SENTINEL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5, St. Paul 1 Box Score SP: Andrew Morris (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) HR: Carson McCusker (12) Andrew Morris delivered a quality start for the Saints tonight, throwing six innings of two-run ball. He allowed a solo homer in the second inning before giving up a second run in a sloppy fifth inning that featured both an error and a balk by Morris himself. Despite Morris being his own worst enemy that inning, that run goes as unearned. Morris lowered his ERA to 3.86 and topped out at 97.5 mph tonight. That the Twins had a rotation need and he wasn’t even in the discussion was both justified and a great illustration of the team’s pitching depth. This dude woulda been the No. 2 starter on some of the mid-2010s Twins rotations. Unfortunately, the only offense the Saints could muster was a Carson McCusker home run in the bottom of the ninth. He now has a dozen homers this season. Payton Eeles and Anthony Prato were both 2-for-4, Prato also stole his 10th base. The Saints were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Danny Coulombe pitched the first game of his rehab assignment with the Saints tonight. He retired all three batters he faced on nine pitches, seven of them strikes. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8, Northwest Arkansas 2 Box Score SP: Trent Baker (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K) HR: Aaron Sabato (8) Is Aaron Sabato happening? Well, no matter how you want to look at it as it relates to his long-term outlook, Sabato is undoubtedly on a tear right now, having tallied six extra-base hits in his last two games. After hitting two home runs and an RBI double last night, he hit another homer to go with a pair of doubles tonight. In 35 games since rejoining the Wind Surge, Sabato has hit .306/.407/.565 (.972 OPS) with a 26.2 K% and 13.1 BB%. He’s reached base in 24 consecutive games. Tonight was his 220th Double-A game. Wichita opened an 8-0 lead through the top of the fourth inning and never looked back. Trent Baker was the beneficiary of all that run support, but he also held up his end of the bargain. Baker, who came over in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, went six innings and only surrendered two runs on four hits. Baker struck out five batters and walked one. Pierson Ohl earned a three-inning save. Gabriel Gonzalez was hit by a batted ball while on the bases. He singled to lead off the third inning and advanced to third on a Sabato double. With Noah Cardenas up, Gonzalez was hit with a foul line drive. The trainer came out, but he stayed in the game at that time. He scored on the next pitch and played outfield in the bottom of the inning, but exited in the top of the fourth. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score SP: Chase Chaney (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K) HR: Kyle DeBarge (6) This game was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Wisconsin’s Jadher Areinamo lined a ball into left field toward Jay Thomason, a recently-promoted Kernel who has mostly been an infielder. Thomason did an excellent job of aggressively getting to the ball, but his throw in short-hopped Kaelen Culpepper, who couldn’t corral it. Areinamo managed to not only stretch the hit into a double, but he advanced to third on the error. He later scored on a sacrifice fly to walk it off. Kyle DeBarge broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with his sixth home run of the season, putting the Kernels up 2-0. The lead was short-lived, as Wisconsin responded with a two-run shot of their own in the bottom of the frame. Chase Chaney provided a quality start, as that two-run homer was the only damage he allowed over seven innings pitched. Brandon Winokur was 3-for-4 with a double. After getting off to a slow first two months of the season, Winokur is hitting .450/.500/.800 in the very early goings in June. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Palm Beach 2 Box Score SP: Michael Ross (4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K) HR: Maddux Houghton (6), Walker Jenkins (1) Walker Jenkins back active is enough of a sight for sore eyes, that he blasted a go-ahead homer is the cherry on top. Jenkins, who was the DH tonight, got a single up the middle in the third inning, but that’s all the Fort Myers lineup could muster that frame. In the bottom of the seventh, Palm Beach committed an error that resulted in the game being tied at 2-2. That’s when Jenkins put the Mighty Mussels ahead with a beautiful blast. Maddux Houghton, who had homered earlier in the game, added an RBI double in the eighth inning and he later scored on a Ricardo Pena sacrifice fly to provided Fort Myers with some insurance runs. Michael Ross, the Twins 18th-round pick from last year's draft, had a solid outing despite not being able to get out of the fifth inning. He topped out at 95 mph. Brennen Oxford, who the Twins signed out of the independent Atlantic League, earned his first win in affiliated ball after pitching two scoreless frames. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 14, FCL Red Sox 4 Box Score SP: Teague Conrad (4 IP, 5 H, 3R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) HR: Ariel Castro (3), Yilber Herrera (1) The Twins trailed by a run heading into the top of the seventh inning, but their lineup exploded for seven runs. Right fielder Ricardo Paez got things started with a single, then advanced to second base on a balk, and would later score the tying run from second base on a wild pitch. That opened the floodgates. The Twins landed multiple big blows in the seventh, including a two-run double from Eduardo Beltre, a two-run single from Victor Leal and a solo homer by Ariel Castro. Four Twins batters tallied multi-hit games, including Paez, Beltre, Ramiro Domninguez and Daiber De Los Santos, who also stole a pair of bases. A couple of former indy ballers were featured on the mound. Teague Conrad, who the Twins signed out of the Frontier League, gave up three runs over four innings as the starter, though only one of those runs was earned. Will Armbruester, also from the Frontier League, finished off the game with three shutout innings. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Blue Jays 6, DSL Twins 4 Box Score SP: Santiago Castellanos (2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K) HR: None Right-handed pitcher Santiago Castellanos of Venezuela made his professional debut in this one. He held the Blue Jays scoreless over 2 2/3 innings, limiting them to two hits. He struck out three of the 12 batters he faced and walked two. Per Baseball America, Castellanos touches 97 mph despite still only being 16-years-old. They put a 60 grade on his fastball, meaning they consider that a plus pitch. The Twins broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning by scoring all four of their runs. The bullpen couldn’t hold the lead, however, as the Blue Jays scratched across a run in the fifth inning before tallying five more in the sixth. Jhomnardo Reyes, a 17-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was the only Twin with a multi-hit game. He was 2-for-3, and is 7-for-13 through four games this season (.538 average). TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Chase Chaney, Cedar Rapids (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K) Hitter of the Day: Aaron Sabato, Wichita (3-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 1. Walker Jenkins (rehabbing with Fort Myers): 2-for-5, HR (1), R, 2 RBI 6. Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, 2B, R 8. Andrew Morris (St. Paul): 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K 9. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-4 11. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, HR (6), R, 2 RBI, K 14. Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 1-for-2, R, K (was hit by a batted ball while running the bases and later exited the game) 16. Eduardo Beltre (FCL): 2-for-6, 2B, SB (9), R, 3 RBI 17. Tanner Schobel (St. Paul): 1-for-4, 2B 19. Carson McCusker (St. Paul): 1-for-4, HR (12), R, RBI, 2 K TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6:37 pm CT: Darren McCaughan Wichita at Northwest Arkansas, 6:35 pm CT: Connor Prielipp Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:40 pm CT: Alejandro Hidalgo Fort Myers vs. Palm Beach, 5:05 pm CT: Dasan Hill FCL Twins vs. FSL Red Sox, 9 am CT: TBD DSL TWINS vs. DSL Yankees, 9 am CT: TBD View full article

Twin Case You Missed It: Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Travis Adams got the call. He’ll join the big club today and likely make his MLB debut sometime this weekend at Target Field. Here’s a look back at Adams’ career to date, his minor league numbers, his pitch arsenal and more. View full video

Quantity/plate appearances were a factor. It’s always tough to rank these, since there are multiple candidates. I like this format where we give all the top five guys a good amount of attention. For what it’s worth, the Twins agreed with me. Gonzalez was also the team’s pick for their MiLB player of the month.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge Last month, Cason McCusker took top honors with Kyler Fedko, Jay Thomason, Nate Baez and Ryan Fitzgerald also garnering consideration. While all five of those hitters also had strong performances in the month of May, a new name has emerged to take the top spot. Honorable mentions: Khadim Diaw, Carson McCusker, Emmanuel Rodriguez This trio would have cracked the top five but they lacked playing time compared to their counterparts. Diaw hit .339/.457/.663 (1.011 OPS) in 70 plate appearances for Cedar Rapids before being placed on the IL with a fractured thumb. McCusker earned his first promotion to the majors after hitting .362/.406/.603 (1.010 OPS) in 64 May plate appearances with St. Paul. Rodriguez bounced back from a poor start to the season to post a .439 OBP while slugging .517 in 82 plate appearances for the Saints. Those are excellent performances from guys who couldn't crack the top five! Let's get into this month's top hitters across the system. 5) Nate Baez, Cedar Rapids 333/.475/.462 (.937 OPS), 16.8 K%, 21.8 BB%, 2 HR, 0 SB, 101 PA Baez drew a system-high 22 walks in May while only striking out 17 times in 101 plate appearances. Add in the fact that he also hit .333 and Baez boasted an amazing .475 on-base percentage for the month. Compared to the other hitters on this list, his power output was lacking (.462 slugging percentage), but there wasn’t a hitter consistently making more positive contributions than Baez in May. Baez, who was drafted in the 12th round in 2022, also turned 24-years-old this month. Considering how outstanding he’s been so far this year, you’d have to figure he’s on the verge of a promotion up to Wichita. On the season, he’s made 20 starts at first base, 12 at catcher and five starts as the designated hitter. 4) Mickey Gasper, St. Paul 348/.437/.663 (1.100 OPS), 17.5 K%, 12.6 BB%, 7 HR, 1 SB, 103 PA Put Gasper in a Saints uniform and he transforms into the Sultan of Swat. He hit seven home runs in 22 games for St. Paul, slugging an eye-popping .663 for the month. This much power coming from a guy who is also so great at making contact is a sight to see. Gasper has nine home runs in 27 games with the Saints this year, but entered 2025 with nine homers in 70 career Triple-A games. Like Baez, Gasper is also catching some while mixing in at other positions. During his time with the Saints, Mickey has started eight games at catcher, seven at second base, four at first base, two in left field and has DHed six times. With the Twins lineup returning to health, it’s going to be difficult for Gasper to find more opportunities on the big club. Still, he’s been a blast to watch at CHS Field. 3) Kaelen Culpepper, Cedar Rapids .302/.413/.491 (.903 OPS), 18.3 K%, 12.7 BB%, 5 HR, 11 SB, 126 PA Culpepper’s play of late has him ricketing up prospect lists. A big part of that is due to how competent he’s looking at shortstop, but he also flexed his muscles at the plate in May. KC hit five home runs for the month and was an on-base machine, posting a .413 OBP. To top it all off, he even swiped 11 bases. Health is considered by some as the sixth tool for prospects. I think most Twins fans could get on board with that idea. Well, another plus to Culpepper’s month is he led the system in plate appearances. Add that to the fact that he’s looking like he’ll stick at short and hit for power — two things that were considered major question marks at the time of the draft — and Culpepper is really coming into his own here early in his first full professional season. You love to see it. 2) Tanner Schobel, Wichita .321/.387/.541 (.928 OPS), 12.9 K%, 8.9 BB%, 5 HR, 6 SB, 124 PA Double A is a real test and, to be frank, Schobel failed his first two semesters. But after posting a sub-.640 OPS for Wichita in both 2023 and 2024, something has clicked. Schobel is back to looking like the hitter he was with Cedar Rapids early in the 2023 season. After posting a respectable .752 OPS in April, Schobel broke out and hit .321 with a .928 OPS last month. He slugged .541 with five home runs and didn’t have to sacrifice his typical contact-focused approach to do it. In a league where the strikeout rate is 24%, Schobel posted a 12.9 K%. He also led the system with 25 runs scored in May and his 35 hits were one off the lead. So, is Schobel back? Maybe it’s too early to go that far, but he’s finally passing the test in Double A. After 219 games at the level, perhaps it’s time for a new assignment. 1) Gabriel Gonzalez, Cedar Rapids/Wichita .364/.416/.586 (1.002 OPS), 15.9 K%, 8.0 BB%, 3 HR, 1 SB, 113 PA Gonzalez’s stock has fallen quite a bit since MLB.com had him ranked as the No. 79 overall prospect in baseball prior to the 2024 season. He came over to the Twins as the centerpiece of the Jorge Polanco trade and had a disappointing first year in the org. This year, he looks like a new man. The Twins decided to keep things familiar for Gonzalez to start this season, and that appears to be paying dividends. Changing orgs isn’t always easy for guys. After so much change in 2024, Gonzalez was able to open this year at a familiar place, back in Cedar Rapids. After posting a .907 OPS in 34 games, he earned a promotion to Double A on May 19. Again, Double A is a real test. Other than the jump from Triple A to the majors, I think it’s the most challenging jump a player makes along the ladder up through their career. It’s early, but Gonzalez is crushing it. He’s hit even better for Wichita than he was for the Kernels, posting a .364/.440/.523 line (.963 OPS) in his first 11 games for the Wind Surge. Combining his performance at both levels for the month, Gonzalez hit an impressive .364/.416/.586 (1.002 OPS) and I don’t think the smile left his face all month. He had a system-high 36 hits in May and his 18 RBIs were one back of system leader Kyler Fedko on the month. So congrats to Gonzalez and the rest of these hitters on their marvelous months of May. What’s especially striking about this handful of prospects isn’t just how productive they’ve been, it’s also how much contact they’re making. Not a single one of them is even sniffing a 20 K%. Thanks for reading and make sure to check back to see if any of these hitters make next month’s list. View full article

Minnesota Twins ace Pablo López exited his start last night in Sacramento due to an injury. While we’re not sure the extent of the injury, one thing that appears clear is Pablo will be going on the IL. Luckily, the Twins aren’t without other options. Is Simeon Woods Richardson coming back? Will David Festa return? Or will Derek Falvey call an audible and go in a different direction? Let’s talk about it in this edition of Twin Case You Missed It. View full video

The Minnesota Twins had one of the greatest victories you’ll ever see in the regular season. Friday night in Seattle, they were trailing 6-3 down to their final out and ended up winning 12-6. It’s tough to fully appreciate that game now, as the Twins dropped their next two to the Mariners in frustrating fashion. Tonight’s System Recap includes highlights of Twins prospects Payton Eeles, Tanner Schobel, Gabriel Gonzalez, Kyler Fedko, Kyle DeBarge and Nate Baez. View full video

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Gabriel Gonzalez) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 31-25 St. Paul Saints: 28-24 Wichita Wind Surge: 25-24 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 28-20 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 21-28 FCL Twins: 12-8 DSL Twins: Season starts June 2. TRANSACTIONS Payton Eeles joined the Cedar Rapids Kernels on rehab assignment. He had played 10 rehab games with Fort Myers. Darren Bowen was transferred to Wichita’s Developmental List. Nick Trabacchi, a right-handed pitcher the Twins recently signed out of the Frontier League, was assigned to Cedar Rapids. The Twins signed OF Justin Connell, a 26-year-old former 11th-round pick of the Nationals in 2017 who was playing for the York Revolution in the Atlantic League. He had a .375/.535/.722 batting line (1.258 OPS) through 23 games with York. He was assigned to Cedar Rapids. Kevin Maitan, who had been with Cedar Rapids, was released. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 9, Omaha 8 Box Score Marco Raya not only got pointed in the right direction his last start, he delivered four perfect innings with seven strikeouts. So how was the encore? A mixed bag. There was a dreadful start followed by a flash of brilliance. Things got off to a rocky start when Edouard Julien committed an error at second base on the first hitter of the game. That runner stole second base and scored on a single by the No. 2 hitter. Next up was Royals prospect Jac Caglianone, who blasted a home run to put Omaha up 3-0 before Raya had even recorded an out. Instead of wilting, Raya responded. He retired the next 11 batters he faced, seven of them on strikeouts. He also did not walk a batter in this outing. Raya topped out at 96.7 mph and got 11 swinging strikes, five of them on his changeup. The Saints lineup was relentless, combining for 15 hits. Armando Alvarez provided the biggest blast, a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He also had some fireworks directed toward an umpire later in the game and was ejected. Alvarez got an RBI hit in the ninth inning, but was thrown out trying to stretch a single to a double. Or at least that was the call, and Alvarez didn’t like it. He gave the ump a piece of his mind — several pieces, in fact — before Toby Gardenhire could make it out to intervene. Though he had to hit the showers a bit early, it was a five-RBI night for Alvarez. Another offensive star for St. Paul was Mickey Gasper, who had three hits and a walk. He’s hitting .365/.465/.729 (1.194 OPS) in 25 games for the Saints. Emmanuel Rodriguez exited this game in the bottom of the sixth inning. There didn’t appear to be any obvious reason why he would have needed to come out of the game, though he did have a minor slip in the grass redirecting himself while playing a ball off the wall in the bottom of the fifth inning. He managed to play the rest of that inning without issue, so perhaps it was something else. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 7, Tulsa 1 Box Score The Wind Surge exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first inning and got a trio of strong pitching performances that allowed them to cruise to victory. Tanner Schobel led things off with his seventh home run of the season, Gabriel Gonzalez followed with a triple, Aaron Sabato later hit a one-out double then Noah Cardenas hit an RBI double, giving Wichita a team cycle within their first six hitters of the game. Christian MacLeod was the beneficiary of all that run support. He held Tulsa to one run over his 3 2/3 innings, but it was a bit of a high-wire act. The left-hander stranded the bases loaded in the first inning and left two men on in both the third and fourth innings. MacLeod gave up six hits and walked three batters but struck out five. He has a 1.31 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for Wichita so far this season. Mike Paredes was the first man out of the Wind Surge bullpen. He stranded both runners he inherited from MacLeod and pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit ball to improve to 7-0 on the season. Joel Cesar finished things off with two perfect innings. Kyler Fedko blasted his Texas League leading 11th home run of the season, adding an exclamation point to this victory. It’s been a remarkable run for Fedko so far this season, as he had hit just nine home runs in 136 games the two seasons prior combined. Fedko also stole his eighth base of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Lake County 5 Box Score Payton Eeles’ rehab assignment moved up from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids and he made his presence known in this one. The pesky Eeles was 3-for-4 with a double at the plate but he was even more of a problem on the bases. Eeles, who missed time due to knee surgery, swiped three bases. Two of those steals were of third base. Also encouraging: Eeles played all nine innings at second base. Kyle Hess hit what was scored as an inside-the-park home run thanks to perhaps the most minor league-y minor league defense I’ve ever seen. The Lake County right fielder charged in way too aggressively on the line drive, resulting in the ball sailing over his head. Their center fielder scampered over to fire the ball in toward the infield wildly, then cutoff man somehow lost possession of the ball while transferring it from his glove to his throwing hand. Hess circled the bases before the Captains could even get the ball back into the infield. It’ll look like a 450-foot blast on Hess’ stat sheet. Things got a little dicey for the Kernels, who led 6-3 at one point, but they held on for the victory. Paulshawn Pasqualotto protected the one-run lead he inherited with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to earn his fifth save of the season. Pasqualotto, the Twins 12th rounder in 2023, has a 1.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP this season. Ty Langenberg got the start in this one and continued his sluggish start to the season. He now has a 7.98 ERA after surrendering three runs over his 4 1/3 innings. Nate Baez was 2-for-3 with a walk and has a .956 OPS on the season. He was behind the plate tonight and threw out one of three attempting base stealers. MUSSEL MATTERS Tampa 9, Fort Myers 3 Box Score Dylan Questad’s night ended early due in large part to an inefficient second inning. The 20-year-old Wisconsin native faced eight batters and needed 29 pitches to complete the second frame, then opened the third inning with a four-pitch walk followed by a run-scoring triple. Tampa continued adding on, building an 8-1 lead by the end of the fourth inning. The one pitching bright spot for the Mighty Mussels was the marvelously mustachioed Jakob Hall. The Twins eighth-round pick in last year’s draft held Tampa scoreless over the final three innings. A couple of Fort Myers newcomers had multi-hit games. Ricardo Pena, who was playing in his second game since being promoted from the FCL, went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Blaze O’Saben, who was recently signed out of indy ball, went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. He also lived up to his name by stealing a base. Caleb McNeely, another indy ball alum, hit his first home run playing in just his second game with Fort Myers. McNeely was the 2024 Frontier League MVP. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 2 Box Score The FCL Twins continued their strong start to the season thanks to another strong pitching performance. Juan Cota, a right-handed 19-year-old product of Mexico, got things started with three shutout innings. After that it was 2024 13th-round pick Xavier Kolhosser, who surrendered an unearned run over two frames. Venezuelan Eider Machuca gave up a run in the sixth inning but earned a hold before Brent Francisco, an undrafted free agent, pitched a perfect seventh inning for the save. That quartet of hurlers combined to walk just one batter today. The FCL Twins staff had an 8.5 BB% coming into today, which is comfortably below the league average of 13.7 BB%. Irvin Nunez opened the scoring for the Twins with a little league home run in the second inning.. He hit a triple to center field and came around to score on an error. The second run came across when Javier Roman drove in Nunez with a double in the fourth inning. Luis Fragoza added a much-needed insurance run with an RBI double of his own which scored Eduardo Beltre. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Jakob Hall, Fort Myers: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day: Payton Eeles, Cedar Rapids: 3-for-4, 2B, 3 SBs PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 1-for-3, R (removed in the sixth inning) 6. Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, BB, 2 R, K 7. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K 9. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, K 11. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3, BB, 2 K, SB (28) 14. Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 3-for-5, 3B, R, K 16. Eduardo Beltre (FCL): 2-for-3, 2B, R, K, SB (8) 17. Tanner Schobel (Wichita): 2-for-5, HR (7), R, RBI, 2 K TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul at Omaha, 6:05 pm CT: Andrew Morris Wichita vs. Tulsa, 6:05 pm CT: Trent Baker Cedar Rapids vs. Lake County, 6:35 pm CT: Chase Chaney Fort Myers at Tampa, 5:30 pm CT: Dasan Hill FCL Twins at FCL Red Sox, 9 am CT: TBD View full article

Twins prospect Kaelen Culpepper is beginning to draw some more attention, and it’s easy to see why. He hit another home run on Wednesday, his fifth of the month for Cedar Rapids. Kyler Fedko also stayed hot for Wichita, continuing his impressive power breakout by collecting the first multi-homer game of his pro career. Today’s System Recap also includes some pitching highlights of Jose Olivares, Eli Jones and Cole Peschl. View full video

This goes way above me, Doctor. The divine Baseball Gods have jinxed the Twins. They could be playing against the New Ulm Yankees and lose. If there's any kind of Yankees tie in, we're hosed.

Happy Memorial Day! This marks the first day we’re allowed to look at the standings, and the Minnesota Twins are in pretty good shape. After taking a series against the Royals, the Twins are tied for second in the AL Central and sitting in an AL Wild Card spot. Not bad for a squad that had a nightmare start to its season. Minor league highlights in today’s recap feature Kaelen Culpepper, Kyle DeBarge, Mickey Gasper, David Festa, Darren Bowen, Marco Raya and Dasan Hill. View full video

Ow aw ow aw wa wa ouch ow FUNDER!

Image courtesy of Chris Paddack © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Box Score Starting Pitcher: Chris Paddack: 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 90 pitches, 64 strikes (71.1%) Home Runs: Carlos Correa (4) Bottom 3 WPA: Brock Stewart -.204, Ryan Jeffers -.173, Kody Funderburk -.131 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) You could see this loss coming from a mile away. The Minnesota Twins playing a game at George M. Steinbrenner Field? I mean, c’mon. Even if the Yankees were nowhere in sight, this was a predictable outcome. Tonight’s game was a pitcher’s duel until it very decisively was not. It was a scoreless tie with starters Chris Paddack and former Twin Zack Littell cruising into the bottom of the sixth inning. Paddack ran into some trouble there, surrendering a one-out single followed by a double. Brock Stewart took over for the Twins and served up a middle-middle sweeper to Jonathan Aranda, who hit it out for a three-run homer. Rocco Baldelli’s old buddy Kevin Cash said “hey, we could do that!” After Littell hit Ty France with a pitch, putting him on with one out, Cash decided he’d also had enough of the zeros. He brought Garrett Cleavinger in from the bullpen to … also give up a home run to the first batter he faced. Carlos Correa took him deep for a beautifully violent two-run homer blasted at 108.8 mph that traveled 417 feet. The teams traded zeros once again in the bottom of the seventh inning and top of the eighth before things really went sideways for the Twins. Justin Topa, who pitched a clean seventh inning, retired the only batter he faced in the eighth before Kody Funderburk took over. There wasn’t much fun about his outing this evening. Funderburk surrendered consecutive singles before recording the second out. He then got two strikes on José Caballero but couldn’t finish the deal. In Funderburk’s defense, it looked like Trevor Larnach should have been able to make a play on the ball Caballero hit to left field that ended up being a two-run double. Larnach made a leaping attempt at the warning track and appeared to have gotten some leather on it. Upon review, he probably didn’t need to leave his feet at all. It’s unlikely any spring training games Larnach has played at George M. Steinbrenner Field have been in the evenings with the lights on. There’s also no lights from a third deck in a minor league/spring training stadium like this, which is something Major Leaguers can become accustomed to (hat tip to the astute Seth Stohs on that observation). No matter the reason, Larnach didn’t look comfortable on this catch attempt. Danny Jansen, the next batter, ended a six-pitch at-bat by blasting a two-run homer to completely blow the game open. Larnach had an outside chance to redeem himself and make what would have been a spectacular rob job, but he missed by no more than a foot. Since the Twins only managed to score two runs, everything that unfolded in that ugly eighth inning didn’t actually have any impact on the final outcome. This was the fourth time in the past seven games the Twins failed to score three runs or more. What’s Next? It’s another one at George M. Steinbrenner Field Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm CT. Joe Ryan looks to finish off a strong May in which he has pitched to a 1.96 ERA while striking out 28 batters in 23 innings pitched. He’ll be facing his former organization for the third time in his career. The Rays counter with 24-year-old right-hander Taj Bradley, who has pitched much better at home (3.72 ERA) than on the road (6.20 ERA) so far this season. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Topa 0 0 34 0 17 51 Durán 0 0 23 18 0 41 Funderburk 0 0 0 0 31 31 Sands 0 14 0 12 0 26 Alcalá 0 0 26 0 0 26 Jax 0 11 12 0 0 23 Varland 0 9 0 12 0 21 Stewart 0 3 7 0 11 21 View full article

Given the history of how they've handled guys on rehab assignment, I'm guessing it was just a scheduled off day for him. Wallner had played both Thursday and Friday. That's somewhat unusual in itself, as they don't typically let guys go back-to-back right away when rehabbing. This has been a weird weather week, though, so maybe the earlier postponements had some impact on their plan with him.