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On Friday morning, the Arizona Fall League announced their rosters. The Twins prospects will be playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs this season. Eight Twins players will team with minor leaguers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox. The league will begin play on October 2nd and continue until the league’s championship game on November 11th. While the Arizona Fall League is often touted as a high-level of competition, teams don’t always send their top prospects. In fact, this year, just 10 players on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect rankings will participate. Of the eight players that the Twins are sending, only Kala’i Rosario ranks in their Top 20 Twins prospects (#19). Often, the players who participate in the Fall League are players who missed time during the regular season due to injury. Teams don’t often want to send their starting pitchers because they have already thrown a lot of innings. So you’ll see relievers sent. Those players typically don’t rank high on prospect lists, but several of them will make it to the big leagues. Let’s take a look at the eight players that the Twins are sending to Arizona next week. In addition to discussing the player’s background, I had the opportunity to chat with several of the players on what they are looking forward to during their time in Arizona and what they hope to work on and improve while they are there. Outfielder Kala’i Rosario was the Twins fifth and final draft pick in 2020. The Hawaii native made a name for himself on the national circuit as one of the most powerful bats in that high school class. He has had some ups and downs throughout his minor-league career, but generally, 2023 was a fantastic season for him. Rosario was recently named the MVP of the Midwest League. He led the league with 21 home runs and 94 RBI. He had 27 doubles and three triples. Twins Daily ranks Rosario as the Twins #13 prospect. First baseman Aaron Sabato is also heading to the Fall League. The Twins top pick in 2020 out of North Carolina has had several roadblocks since signing. Obviously that starts with the lost 2020 season. Early in his career, he struggled to make contact. His 2022 season ended early with a broken wrist. Early in the 2023 season, he missed significant time after being hit by a pitch and breaking his wrist again. In 77 games with the Wichita Wind Surge this year, he hit .221/.329/.439 (.768) with 19 doubles and 12 home runs. Catcher Andrew Cossetti will continue his season in Arizona. The Twins drafted the slugger in the 12th round in 2022 out of St. Joseph's University. He played in one game in the FCL in 2022. He began the 2023 season with 35 games in Fort Myers where he destroyed pitching to the tune of .330/.462/.607 (1.069) with 11 doubles and six home runs. He moved up to Cedar Rapids, and in 65 games, he hit .262/.406/.492 (.898) with 12 doubles and nine homers. Cossetti is looking forward to playing in the Fall League for arguably the best reasons. “I’m looking forward to working with a wide range of coaches and players. Baseball is unique in that everyone does something a little differently and I think learning how other players and coaches work is one of the best ways to improve yourself.” Of the 95 total games he played in 2023, he was behind the plate in just 47 of them. He is an offensive juggernaut, but admits to needing to keep working to improve his defense. “The biggest thing I want to improve on is my catching skills. Becoming a more well-rounded and consistent catcher is the next big step I need to take as a player. More ABs always helps too, and I believe in my ability to hit so in that aspect it’s just about getting more reps and gaining knowledge that way. Overall, I’m excited and thankful for the opportunity and my goal is to leave in November a better catcher than I am now.” In addition to the three hitters, the Twins are sending five pitchers to Glendale. Three of them have been full-time relievers, and two of them have been swingmen, making some starts and working often in long relief. Right-hander Ben Ethridge was the Twins 15th round pick in 2022 out of Southern Mississippi. He didn’t pitch in a professional game after the draft and pitched well in Fort Myers in his debut season, posting a 2.99 ERA. He made 13 starts and came out of the bullpen 12 times. But there certainly are things to work on. In 78 1/3 innings, he walked 36 (4.1 BB/9) and struck out just 63 batters (7.2 K/9). Ethridge told Twins Daily recently, “One of my big focuses is to develop and learn from some of the more experienced players and coaches. Trying to work on fine tuning pitches and figuring out when is the best time to use them. After my first full season, I started to figure out what pitches work when, but I really want to work with it more and get more comfortable with it.” He added, “I am excited about getting the opportunity to go out there and compete with and against some of the best. I have heard nothing but good things from people that have played there and I’m looking forward to getting to experience it!” Left-hander Zach Veen was the Twins 18th round pick in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He spent the 2023 season and went 5-4 in 41 bullpen appearances. He also had five saves. In 58 1/3 innings, he walked 26 and struck out 48 batters. The control was an issue which is likely surprising because in his 2022 college season, he struck out 59 batters and walked just three over 49 innings. That said, he went 4-0 with six saves, a 1.29 ERA, and a 0.51 WHIP. So, that is the potential and the hope is that spending some time in the Fall League will help him reach it. Veen told Twins Daily, “I’m looking forward to facing some really good competition out in Arizona. There are some really good guys out there, and to compete on the same level is extremely cool.” He continued, “(I’m) also looking forward to meeting some new people and seeing what makes the good and being able to talk to them and learn some new things” It will be a good learning experience for Veen and the other minor leagues. Veen want to “expand what I learned throughout the year at Ft. Myers. That includes using the new pitches I learned and executing pitches, locating where I want them.” Lefty Jordan Carr pitched in 22 games in 2023, 18 in Cedar Rapids before ending the season at Double-A Wichita. In his 60 2/3 Kernels innings, he posted a 1.48 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP. He has had a long and winding road to the Fall League. He was born in Baltimore and began his college career in 2016 at UNC Asheville. He was redshirted in 2017 and then pitched a lot in 2018 and 2019. He transferred to the College of Charleston for the 2020 season and made four starts but thanks to Covid, he took advantage of an extra year of eligibility and pitched again in 2021. He went undrafted and went to the USPBL and pitched in seven games for Utica before the Twins signed him and sent him to Fort Myers. The 26-year-old is excited for this opportunity and certainly not taking it for granted. He said, “I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’ll be a great opportunity for me to continue the success I’ve had this season and grow as a player. I know there will be a few familiar faces I’ll be competing against and with. I’ll have the opportunity to learn from a whole new set of guys and compete against some of the best players in baseball. It’s an honor to be considered and I’m looking forward to competing with and against some of the best.” As for what Carr is hoping to work on in the AFL is what might be called an Advanced Pitching course. “I just need the experience of taking my game and what I’m good at to the next level and knowing who I am as a pitcher against really good hitters. And that’s one of those things you don’t learn till you go through it. Learning how to miss bats and get weak contact at this level, working my pitches off of each other/tunneling and sequencing, reading hitters and adapting the at bat with my strengths.” The Twins have been active in signing guys out of the USPBL. Another pitcher heading to the Fall League signed with the Twins out of the USPBL on the same day as Carr. Malik Barrington played his college baseball at Albany State in Georgia, just a three-hour drive from his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. After his final college season of 2021, he pitched in eight games for Birmingham-Bloomfield before the Twins signed him. Barrington spent the entire 2023 season with the Midwest League champions in Cedar Rapids. He went 6-2 with a 4.29 ERA over 39 games and 65 innings. He walked too many (40), but he also had 80 strikeouts. The right-hander said he’s looking forward “to seeing the plethora of high level talent and being able to talk to and Learn from those guys everyday. You’d be shocked how much you can learn about pitching and the game of baseball by just talking to guys.” No surprise what he’s hoping to work on over the next six weeks. “While I’m there I would like to work on cleaning up my mechanics a bit and hopefully getting more consistency in the strike zone.” And by being in the Fall League, he’ll work with new people, new voices. He’ll be able to watch others in their bullpen sessions and ask questions about pitch grips or mechanical things. AJ Labas was the Mets 17th round pick in 2017 out of Trinity Christian Academy where he was in the same graduating class as 2022 AFL standout Austin Martin. Instead of signing, Labas went to Louisiana State where he made 29 starts over three seasons. In 2018, he was a freshman All-American, but he missed the 2019 season with He came back as a weekend starter in the Covid-shortened 2020 season and then made 15 starts in 2021. However, he went undrafted and signed with the Twins later that summer. He began the 2023 season with the Mussels and worked in 20 games. He moved up to the Kernels where he worked in 18 more games. He had seven saves overall. About his AFL opportunity, Labas said, “I'm looking forward to facing the competition that’s going to be out there and seeing friends and former teammates from high school and college and catching up with them. Also learning from the different coaches and working with the coaching staff.” In addition to Austin Martin, Pirates pitching prospect J.C. Flowers was on their same Trinity Christian Academy teams. They won a lot of games. So there you have it. The Twins will send eight players to Arizona later this week for the Fall League. Remember that we will have weekly updates on how the Twins prospects are performing, so be sure to check back for that. For more information on these eight Twins minor leaguers, click on the links below for Twins Daily articles in which they were tagged. Andrew Cossetti, Aaron Sabato, Kala’i Rosario, AJ Labas, Zach Veen, Malik Barrington, Jordan Carr, Ben Ethridge.

The Twins got a great start from Pablo Lopez. Jose Salas had a couple of key hits in a Kernels run. Hopefully Byron Chourio had a great day and got a little better on a non-game day in the FCL. Here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games on Wednesday. St. Paul Saints: 49-33 Wichita Wind Surge: 32-44 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 47-30 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 39-38 FCL Twins: 10-12 DSL Twins: 6-15 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins concluded the rehab assignment of RHP Cole Sands. In bringing him back up, Josh Winder was optioned to St. Paul. The Twins released RHP Connor Sadzeck. He had been pitching with the Saints. RHP Chad Donato was activated by the Wind Surge. RHP Pierson Ohl has been moved to the Wichita Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Iowa 3 Box Score This was a bit of a back-and-forth, low-scoring game in Des Moines. The Saints fell behind 1-0 in the second, but they tied it up in the fourth inning. Iowa re-took the lead 2-1 after five innings. The Saints tied it again in the top of the seventh. Unfortunately, the Cubs scored their third run in the bottom of the seventh inning and held on for the 3-2 win. After a record-setting performance last week in St. Paul against Gwinnett, the Saints lineup was a bit quiet on Wednesday. In fact, they had just four hits, though they walked five times. Kyle Garlick put the Saints on the board with his seventh double. It scored Matt Wallner who hit his 20th Saints double of the season in this game. The game was tied again in the seventh inning when Anthony Prato drove in Chris Williams with a sacrifice fly. Williams had left off the inning with his second triple of the season. Veteran Aaron Sanchez was on the mound in this one for St. Paul. He was charged with two runs on six hits and a walk over the first five innings. He struck out five batters. Andrew Bechtold came in for his third relief pitching appearance. He had a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He recorded an infield pop out, a strikeout and a groundout in the inning. Austin Schulfer entered the game in the seventh inning. He gave up the go-ahead run on two walks and a hit. Austin Brice worked a perfect ninth inning. It marked the second straight one-run loss for the Saints. They are two games over .500 in such games. Unfortunately, the Iowa Cubs are now 19-3 in one-run contests. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Tulsa 4 Box Score The Surge fell behind 4-0 after just two innings. That was all. Unfortunately, the Wichita offense wasn’t able to do much against the Drillers on Wednesday. Carlos Luna gave up four runs (2 earned) on just four hits over four innings. He walked one batter and had seven strikeouts. Alex Scherff came on and struck out four batters over two scoreless innings. Isaac Mattson then had a walk and a strikeout over the final two, scoreless innings. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge were only able to muster two hits in the game. Alex Isola hit his 13th double and was walked once. Jake Rucker had the other hit. Seth Gray reached base twice via walks. DaShawn Keirsey scored the team’s lone run in the ninth inning on a wild pitch after reaching via an error. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 2 Box Score Speaking of close, one-run games, the Kernels have continued to find ways to win games, and that was the case on Wednesday. The story of the game was the performance of lefty Jaylen Nowlin. He started and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out 10 batters in the game. As if usually key for him (and most pitchers), throwing strikes is very important. Of his 76 pitches in this one, 51 of them were strikes (67%). Nowlin’s blemish came in the fifth inning when he gave up a two-run homer that put the River Bandits ahead 2-1. Fortunately, the Kernels responded with two runs over their own in the bottom of the fifth and then the bullpens took over and kept the score at 3-2 for the home team. The Kernels scored their first run in the third inning when Noah Cardenas scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, Jose Salas drilled a first-pitch homer to tie the game. Later, Ben Ross singled to score Jeferson Morales with the go-ahead (and winning) run). Malik Barrington replaced Nowlin to start the seventh inning. He gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. He had four strikeouts and no walks. Miguel Rodriguez came in and tossed a perfect ninth inning for his 10th Save of the season. Salas led the way with his first triple of the season to go with his third home run of the year. He also had a sacrifice bunt in the game. Doubles were hit by Cardenas (13th) and Morales (5th). MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Jupiter 3 (10) Box Score And yes, another one-run game on Wednesday night. This one had the added bonus of an extra inning. The score was tied 2-2 heading to the 10th frame. The Mussels began the top of the inning with Kamron Willman pinch running at second base for Gregory Duran. Mikey Perez laid down a nice sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error allowed not only Willman to score, but Perez was able to advance to third base. After an out, Maddux Houghton drove in Perez with a double. In the bottom of the inning, the Hammerheads had two singles and one run. But fortunately for the Mussels, it wasn’t enough and Fort Myers got another win. Ben Ethridge dropped his season ERA to 2.49 after giving up two runs (1 earned) on five hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out two batters. Gabriel Yanez came on and struck out five batters over three, one-hit innings. Ricardo Velez pitched a scoreless ninth and held onto the lead in the 10th to record his first Win. Dillon Tatum led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with a walk. Gregory Duran went 2-for-5. Ricardo Olivar went 1-for-3 with two walks. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitters of the Day – Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-2, SH, 3B(1), HR(3), R, RBI. Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, BB, 10 K. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. (Note - our next prospect rankings update will come after the draft.) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, HBP, 3 K. #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, BB, HR(6), R, RBI, K. #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B(20), R #11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K. (2B, batted second) #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-2, SH, 3B(1), HR(3), R, RBI. #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (2-1, 6.57 ERA) Wichita @ Tulsa (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Chad Donato (1-5, 10.73 ERA) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Kyle Jones (4-4, 4.02 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CST) - LHP Jarret Whorff (2-0, 1.63 ERA) FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) - TBD DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics!

TRANSACTIONS The Twins sent IF Kyle Farmer on a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints. OF/1B Alex Kirilloff was officially optioned to Triple-A, and the Saints transferred 3B Hernan Perez to the Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL Nashville 11, St. Paul 5 Box Score Starter Aaron Sanchez retired the first seven men he faced, striking out five of them in the process to begin this one, but six of the next seven reached base putting an end to his outing in the third inning. In total, he went the first 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk. Derek Rodriguez went the next 2 1/3 frames, allowing three runs (one earned) of his own on two hits and two walks, while striking out two. The St. Paul offense did its best to keep it close early, getting a solo home run from Mark Contreras in the second inning, and RBI doubles from Michael Helman and Contreras in the fourth that made the score 6-3. Cole Sands delivered two perfect innings, striking out one before it got out of hand against Connor Sadzek in the eighth. The Sounds added four unearned runs thanks to a pair of errors while the right-hander recorded just two outs. Patrick Murphy finished off the final 1 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out three. Tony Wolters drove in a run with a single in the seventh, and Edouard Julien did the same in the ninth to account for all the Saints scoring. Contreras was the only hitter with multiple knocks in the game (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB), while Matt Wallner (1-for-3, R, BB, K) and Helman (1-for-2, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB) each reached base twice. The lapses on defense were too much to overcome in this one as the Saints committed five errors in total, a franchise record. Alex Kirilloff contributed three of them at first base. The rehabbing Kyle Farmer went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, batting second and playing second base for the first seven innings. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 4, NW Arkansas 6 Box Score The Wind Surge took the lead first in this one thanks to a David Banuelos two-run home run in the top of the second. Unfortunately, starting pitcher Travis Adams was unable to hold the Naturals back. They scored one in the bottom of the second, then four in the third to take a 5-2 lead. Adams completed four innings, allowing those five runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four. Hunter McMahon was the first reliever summoned and went two scoreless, allowing one hit and striking out two. Andrew Cabezas (1 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K) and Osiris German (1/3 IP, K) finished out the game for the Wind Surge bullpen. Wichita made it 5-4 in the fourth on a two-run home run from Armani Smith but were unable to mount any scoring threats after that. As a team, they had 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position, but managed just one hit and left nine men on base for the game. Besides the two home runs, Brooks Lee (2-for-4, 2B, BB, K) and Yoyner Fajardo (2-for-4, BB, 2 SB) had multiple hits, while Alex Isola (0-for-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K, SB) scored two runs. The Wind Surge have yet to win a day game this season (0-8), and this was their first loss in a series opener (4-1). KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 4 (11 innings) Box Score The Kernels struck late to send this one to extra innings, but it wasn’t meant to be as they ran themselves into outs on the base paths in the eleventh. Jordan Carr made the start and went the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and a pair of walks, while striking out six. The game was tied at one when he left the game, as the Kernels got an RBI single from Noah Cardenas in the third. Mike Paredes pitched the next 2 1/3 innings, allowing the Cubs to take the lead in the seventh when he surrendered a two-run home run. Still down by two in the top of the ninth, Cedar Rapids got a rally started when Jose Salas led off with a walk, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw, and Misael Urbina drove him in with a double. Two outs later, Noah Miller delivered an RBI single to tie the game at three. After a single from Ben Ross to put Miller in scoring position, Cardenas singled into left field, but Miller was thrown out at home to send it into extras. Malik Barrington pitched the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no hits and striking out three to get them there. He was replaced by Regi Grace in the 10th, who delivered a one-two-three inning with a man on second, showing a nasty slider to pick up a pair of K’s. With Jose Salas on second base to start the eleventh, the Kernels got aggressive. Before an out was recorded Salas was thrown out trying to steal third, and after Urbina drew a walk got himself thrown out at second to end any scoring threats. Kernels runners stole just one base in five attempts in the game. Grace got a little too nasty with that slider in the 11th, as a hit batter and wild pitch put the winning run on third, and the Cubs walked it off with a single into left. The teams each went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position and combined to leave 10 runners on base for the game. The Kernels got 10 hits to the Cubs 9, but those lost base runners loomed large. The top of the lineup did most of the damage for Cedar Rapids, with their first five hitters combining for nine of their 10 hits. Those hitters were Noah Miller (2-for-4, RBI, K), Ben Ross (2-for-5, K), Noah Cardenas (2-for-5, RBI, 2 K), Kala’i Rosario (1-for-3, 2 BB, K), and Tanner Schobel (2-for-5, 2B). MUSSEL MATTERS Dunedin 2, Fort Myers 7 Box Score The Mighty Mussels got a solid start from right-hander Cory Lewis, who went the first five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out five. He left the game with a 3-2 lead as his offense scored single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Jorel Ortega got the scoring started for Fort Myers with an RBI single in the third before Ricardo Olivar and Mikey Perez added solo home runs in the fourth and fifth respectively. The first reliever summoned for Fort Myers was Ben Ethridge, who went two scoreless innings. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out three. In the bottom of the seventh the home team took a 5-2 lead when a RBI sac fly from Perez was followed by an RBI double from Danny De Andrade. Dylan Neuse tacked on another two in the eighth with a two-run double for a commanding five-run lead. Reliever Zach Veen finished off the game for the Mighty Mussels, allowing three hits and a walk, but giving up zero runs. He struck out one to pick up his first save. Fort Myers had nine hits as a team, with Dalton Shuffield (2-for-3, 3 R, 3B, BB) scoring each time he reached base to lead the way. Neuse and Perez each had two RBI. Ortega finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, RBI, and pair of walks from the leadoff spot. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day - Malik Barrington, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2 IP, 3 K) Hitter of the Day - Mark Contreras, St. Paul Saints (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB) PROSPECT SUMMARY #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B, BB, K #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, RBI, K #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, R, BB, K #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, RBI, K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2B #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Nashville @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-0, 2.35 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (0-1, 13.50 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (10:05 AM CDT) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 2.08 ERA) Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Jose Olivares (1-0, 2.31 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

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

It is always fun giving credit where credit is due, and with our monthly awards, we certainly do just that. Today, you'll get to read about four Twins minor-league relievers. My guess is many of you haven't heard of as many as three of the top four. I've also included several Honorable Mentions who had strong May performances out of the bullpen and deserve to be noticed. This is our final award for May, so before we get started, you can see who the April Reliever of the Month was, and who all of the other May award winners are. Of course, we want these to be interactive. Feel free to tell us if we're wrong, or, more importantly, if others should have been mentioned too. How would you rank these performers. Let's get started. Previous Relief Pitchers of the Month: April – Tyler Viza, Wichita Wind Surge Previous Twins Daily May 2022 Awards: Minor League Hitter of the Month – Spencer Steer, Wichita/St. Paul Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month – Steve Hajjar, Ft. Myers Twins Hitter of the Month – Luis Arraez Twins Pitcher of the Month – Sonny Gray Honorable Mentions RHP Cody Laweryson (Cedar Rapids) – 6 G, 1 GS, 1.38 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, 13 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 14 K, .152 RHP Ian Hamilton (St. Paul) – 9 G, 0.77 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 11 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 BB, 16 K, .146 LHP Evan Sisk (Wichita) – 8 G, 1.59 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 11 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 15 K, .195 RHP Andrew Cabezas (Cedar Rapids) – 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 9 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 14 K, .121 RHP Hunter McMahon (Ft. Myers) – 9 G, 1.35 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 13 1/3 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 15 K, .191 The Top Four Twins Minor League Relievers for May 2022 #4 RHP Malik Barrington (Ft. Myers) 8 G, 1 GS, 1.50 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 12 IP, 8 H, 1 B, 20 K, .186 A Jacksonville native, Barrington pitched at Albany State in Georgia. While he went undrafted, he signed to play in the United Shores Professional Baseball League, the same league the team signed Randy Dobnak from. He pitched in just five games for the FCL Twins last year. A burly 6-3 and 230 pounds, Barrington gets strength from his lower half and is able to throw hard. He also has a solid mix of pitches, though he has been inconsistent with them. While several relievers had strong Mays, Barrington is the choice here because of that fancy 20:1 K:BB ratio. Already 24, the Twins could push him, or they can keep working with him and let him develop at his own pace to see how far up the organizational ladder he can climb. #3 RHP Austin Schulfer (Wichita/St. Paul) 9 G, 1.32 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 13 2/3 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 18 K, .163 After working out of the Wind Surge rotation, and leading the Twins minor leagues in innings pitched last year, he returned to Wichita and pitched out of the bullpen. In 15 games and 23 innings, he gave up just one earned run (0.39 ERA) on 11 hits and four walks (0.65 WHIP). He struck out 30 batters (11.7 K/9). Late in May, he was finally promoted to the Saints and gave up one run on two hits over two innings in his Triple-A debut. Again, we like relievers who don’t walk many batters and miss a lot of bats. Schulfer was the Twins 19th round pick in 2018 from UW-Milwaukee. The 26-year-old is now just a phone call away from the big-league dream, in an organization that appears to need some more bullpen options. #2 RHP Bradley Hanner (Cedar Rapids) 8 G, 0.77 ERA, 0.51 WHIP, 11 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 16 K, .083 Hanner was the Twins 21st round pick in the 2019 draft out of Patrick & Henry Community College. In 2021, he pitched in Ft. Myers where he posted a 7.13 ERA in 26 games and 41 2/3 innings. However, he had 49 strikeouts (and 34 walks) and a big arm with a mid-90s fastball and a big slider that has emerged as a great pitch for him in 2022. It’s pretty clear that something has clicked for Hanner this season in Cedar Rapids, and the numbers have been fantastic. You see his numbers for May. Overall this season, he is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. In 20 innings, he has struck out 22 batters and walked seven. That equates to a 3.2 BB/9 rate, which can surely come down a little more, but it is significantly better than the 7.3 BB/9 he posted in 2021. Most months, Hanner’s numbers would probably make him the pitcher of the month. Same is true of Schulfer. That tells you just how good the May… Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is… RHP Matthew Swain (Ft. Myers) 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.42 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB (2 IBB), 16 K, .081 BAA When the Twins selected Matthew Swain in the 23rd round of the 2019 draft out of Georgia Gwinnett College, they knew they had a talented pitcher with potential. Swain stands 6’7” and a sturdy 230 pounds. He possesses a strong arm with mid-to-high 90s fastball velocity. He’s got a couple of secondary pitches that still need some work but have come a long way. In 2021, he spent the season with the Mighty Mussels. In 35 games, he pitched 60 2/3 innings. He had a 4.60 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He struck out 70 batters (10.4 K/9), but he walked 31 batters (4.6 BB/9). He went 6-2 with five saves last year with Ft. Myers. He returned in 2022, and he has been incredible. In 13 games, he is 2-1 with seven saves. In 19 innings, he has given up only an unearned run. He’s only allowed four hits (1.9 H/9), four walks (1.9 BB/9), and struck out 27 batters (12.8 K/9). In May, he walked two batters… both intentionally. Now that Schulfer has been promoted to St. Paul, if there is a pitcher who most deserves a promotion to the next level, it is the 24-year-old Swain. He could join the Cedar Rapids Kernels soon, one would think. ------------- This is an impressive group of relievers coming off of an incredible month of May. What do you think of the performances, the pitchers, and maybe how you would have ranked them?