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While Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews were the talk of the top pick, Wyatt Langford, Max Clark, and Walker Jenkins were all considered worthwhile top picks in many years. Minnesota stayed true to their board in grabbing Jenkins, and if early returns are anything to dream of, he's not the only one to be excited about. Jenkins has been everything expected and then some. Playing at both the rookie ball and Single-A levels, he looked like the game was too easy. Across 26 games, Jenkins slashed .362/.417/.571 with five doubles, four triples, and three home runs. He commanded the zone as a player well above his age, posting a 14/9 K/BB. If Jenkins was expected to be this good, he has brought many of his draft mates. Second-round pick Luke Keaschall, taken out of Arizona State, has graduated to High-A Cedar Rapids. Playing for a championship in his first season, Keaschall has also been an integral part at each stop. In 31 regular season games, he slashed .288/.414/.478 with 10 doubles, a triple, and three homers. He consistently puts the ball in play and made quick work of Low-A Fort Myers. The third-round pick, Brandon Winokur, was deemed a raw, five-tool talent. His .884 OPS across 17 games in rookie ball was highlighted by five doubles and four home runs. He didn't jump up as quickly as Jenkins, but there should be expected to be more of a developmental curve here. Winokur is a mature young man who presented well in his limited professional action. The Twins took a bunch of pitchers. Most weren't forced into significant playing time out of the gate. While a handful appeared in Complex or Florida State League action, it's far too soon to evaluate them. Former Penn State infielder Jay Harry also looked the part early. In 30 games, Harry slashed .339/.434/.468. He's not much of a power guy at this point, but nine doubles showed an ability to find gaps. Neither of the Twins' last two picks, both high school position players, signed, but neither Sam Parker nor Ashton Larson were taken as anything more than a fallback option. Minnesota went heavy on pitching in this draft, so how the arms, especially youngster Charlee Soto, develop remains to be seen. The organization couldn't be happier for the few hitters they did take. It's worth wondering if Jenkins starts at High-A in 2024, and that would make a meteoric rise similar to Orioles' Jackson Holliday plausible. If Jenkins gets to Triple-A or even masters Double-A next season, it would be hard to see him as anything but a big-league option in 2025. Both Keaschall and Harry might have been safer picks from the standpoint of their veteran status coming out of college, but to see each acclimate so quickly is nice to have when looking for future depth options. Being able to play at advanced levels so quickly should do wonders for their confidence and future development. If the Twins hit on this draft class from a pitching standpoint, anything like they have with the bats, it could go down as one of the best in the Derek Falvey era.

Stories of the demise of Minnesota’s farm system were perhaps exaggerated. The Twins did notably move a handful of good prospects in the past few years to acquire the likes of Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Jorge Lopez, with the last two deals of course not looking so great at the moment. With the exodus of some young talent, there was chatter about Minnesota’s system taking a hit, and it certainly did from a depth perspective. However, I think we’ve seen enough from a handful of Minnesota youngsters to still feel pretty good about the system, both from a real baseball and fantasy perspective. In terms of minor league prospects, Brooks Lee and Walker Jenkins continue to look like studs, while David Festa has gotten off to an encouraging start at the Triple-A level, and Austin Martin has rehabbed some of his stock with the Saints this season as well. Emmanuel Rodriguez is also still an intriguing long-term prospect for dynasty players. Looking at players already in the majors, Royce Lewis is the obvious dynasty riser, and I have more on him below. Edouard Julien has also seen his stock climb dramatically in the past year. Meanwhile, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Jhoan Duran aren’t quite as young as Lewis and Julien and perhaps don’t have as much upside in dynasty formats, but all three have boosted their outlooks this year. The trio is still in their 20s, so plenty of good baseball should be ahead. Overall, these five players are likely the best Minnesota dynasty targets when considering both immediate impact and long-term upside. It’s a pretty solid group that fantasy managers can feel comfortable investing in. Let’s now take a look at some key injury updates, plus which Twins have their stock rising and falling from a fantasy perspective due to results from the past week as well as a prospect to keep an eye on. I’ll also take a look at the week ahead and highlight some matchups to target and avoid. Twins Injury Updates Michael A. Taylor Expected return: This week Taylor took batting practice and ran the bases last week as he recovers from a hamstring strain. It looks like a return is imminent, which could cut into Willi Castro’s playing time in center field. Brock Stewart Expected return: Sept. 22 Stewart began a rehab assignment with the Saints on Friday and looked sharp. He’ll likely get in a few more appearances for St. Paul, and assuming everything goes well, he should return from his elbow issue when the Twins start their final homestand of the season. Chris Paddack Expected return: Late September Paddack tossed 58 pitches in a rehab game for Double-A Wichita last week after previously logging 54 pitches in his first rehab game. The righty is still hoping to help the Twins at the end of the regular season and possibly in the playoffs, with a long-relief role his likely landing spot as he returns from Tommy John surgery. Byron Buxton Expected return: Late September Buxton’s hamstring injury remains a mystery hanging over the team. He was pulled from a rehab assignment in early September and has yet to pick it back up. He could still return at the end of the month and give the squad a jolt, though fantasy players shouldn’t count on anything more from Buxton at this point. Nick Gordon Expected return: Late September or 2024 Gordon suffered a fractured tibia earlier this year but could work his way back before the regular season ends. He started a rehab assignment with the Saints on Friday and will likely need a little time there considering his long layoff. Gordon could give the Twins a dynamic bench option for the postseason but likely won’t have any more fantasy impact in 2023. Stock Rising: Royce Lewis ESPN ownership: 48% We’re running out of words to describe what Lewis has been doing. He’s now batting .311 this year with a .923 OPS, 14 home runs (including four grand slams!) and 51 RBI across 55 games. Over the course of 162 games, that comes out to around 41 long balls and 150 RBI. I still can’t believe that his ownership is under 50%, and managers who’ve enjoyed Royce’s run could very well be in line to win their leagues. Lewis should rocket up draft boards in 2024, particularly in dynasty formats considering he's still only 24. Stock Falling: Dallas Keuchel ESPN ownership: 1% Keuchel is not scheduled to start again this season as he shifts to a relief role, which makes room for Bailey Ober’s return to the rotation. The veteran southpaw had a few nice moments, though he has an 8.03 ERA across his last three starts, so he may be running out of gas. Either way, his fantasy value is essentially zero as a long reliever, so managers should look elsewhere. Prospect Spotlight: Walker Jenkins (Single-A Fort Myers) Jenkins quickly earned a promotion from the Florida Complex League, and the 18-year-old has continued to mash for his new team. Across 12 games for Fort Myers, he’s batting .392 with a 1.054 OPS and 10 RBI. The offensive talent is clear, and while Jenkins likely won’t appear with the Twins until 2025 at the earliest, he’s a definite target in dynasty formats. Upcoming Week Matchup Notes 3 Games vs Cincinnati (Connor Phillips, Ben Lively, Hunter Greene) 3 Games at Los Angeles Angels (Griffin Canning, Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers) The Twins will face the Reds for the first time this year, which means getting a closer look at former Minnesota prospects Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. While Cincinnati has been strong on offense, the pitching matchups don’t look particularly daunting. Same goes for the Angels, so it could be a big week for Minnesota hitters. Two-Start Starting Pitchers Joe Ryan is set to start Monday and Sunday. As noted, the Reds are a tricky matchup, but if Ryan can navigate that one, he could be in line for two wins this week with the Angels struggling lately and playing without both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Twins Fantasy Hitters to Watch Greene probably has the best pure stuff of anyone Minnesota will face this week, but no one on the slate looks too scary. Phillips has an ERA over 8.00 and is currently at Triple-A, while Lively and Anderson have ERAs above 5.00. Those are the spots I’d focus on in DFS. Phillips and Lively are both righties, so Julien, Max Kepler and Alex Kirilloff are good targets. Anderson is a lefty, so Lewis and Carlos Correa probably deserve a bump. Frankly, Lewis looks matchup-proof at this point, and with middling pitchers on the docket this week, he could be in line for a huge week. As noted above, he should probably be more widely owned, so now could be a good time to scoop Lewis up if he’s still out there in your league. Willi Castro also merits a quick shoutout, as he’s batting .304 this month with a pair of home runs and stolen bases. He’s been dynamic for Minnesota when given the opportunity, and while the return of Taylor could cut into Castro’s role, I think he’s a good bargain option in DFS whenever he’s in the lineup. Which Twins are you most excited about in dynasty leagues? Let me know in the COMMENTS, plus post your thoughts on the matchups this week.

3:20 Pete Crow-Armstrong Promoted 4:28 Scouting Report 7:21 2023 Stats 10:45 PCA Next Year? 12:52 Usage in 2023 14:07 Why an Excellent Prospect? 19:15 Rapid Fire Round-Up 20:27 Twins Draftees 28:25 Cubs Draftees 37:18 Brewers Draftees 47:00 Listener Questions 47:35 Walker Jenkins, Brandon Winokur, Luke Keaschall 54:42 Connor Prielipp

Join JD Cameron and Jeremy Nygaard for Episode 4 as they discuss the Twins draft with Baseball America's draft expert, Carlos Collazo. Listen to Carlos' reflections on the Twins class, under the radar picks, and prospects who are off to a fast start in pro ball. Carlos also reflects on the current state of the 2024 draft class, answers listeners draft questions, and answers some quickfire hypotheticals on the Holliday brothers. Time-Stamped Running Order 1:49 Welcome Carlos Collazo from Baseball America 4:00 Headlines/takeaways from each draft class 4:39 Twins 6:51 Cubs 8:43 Brewers 11:07 Carlos's "Under the Radar" Favorites 16:42 Impressive pro performances 17:10 Twins 18:12 Cubs 19:02 Brewers 20:40 2024 Draft Preview 21:40 How do you familiarize yourself with the names of the next class? 24:37 Strengths and weaknesses of 2024 draft 27:35 Who's Going to Emerge? 30:54 Listener Questions: 32:30 Brandon Winokur 35:45 Soto vs Knoth 39:20 Holliday Szn 47:33 Final Thoughts You can find Destination: The Show on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music. The show is available on Libsyn, our podcasting platform, in addition to Youtube.

Evaluating prospects has become ingrained in fans' evaluation of a team. It's easy to point at organizations like the Baltimore Orioles or Houston Astros that went into full rebuild mode to restock the farm system with the promise of better long-term outcomes. However, there are plenty of examples of teams who get caught in rebuild mode without ever having sustained success at the big-league level. Dreaming of the future can be fun for fans, but there are no guarantees that prospects will ever pan out. According to MLB.com, the Twins' farm system was moderately helped by jumping up to the fifth overall pick in MLB's first Draft Lottery. The 2023 MLB Draft was widely considered a five-player draft with a quintet of elite players sitting at the top of draft boards. Minnesota's farm system moved up two spots from 19th to 17th overall in MLB Pipeline's reranking of farm systems following the draft. Since 2021, this is the highest the Twins farm system has ranked, with the club's lowest ranking being 23rd (2022 midseason rank). Currently, the Twins have two prospects that rank among baseball's top 30, and an argument can be made for either to be the team's top overall prospect. Brooks Lee has remained at the top of the Twins Daily prospect rankings even after the team drafted Walker Jenkins with the fifth overall pick. Lee was recently promoted to Triple-A and has a chance to debut in the next calendar year, so it's expected for him to graduate from the team's prospect rankings by 2025. Instead, the team's top prospects project to be among baseball's best. Jonathan Mayo, one of MLB.com's prospect writers, believes the Twins will have two of baseball's top five prospects by 2025. Walker Jenkins is only a handful of games into his professional career, but many national outlets already rank him as a top-20 prospect. In his first nine professional games, he went 13-for-38 (.342 BA) with two doubles, one triple, and two home runs. Also, he's gone 3-for-4 in steal attempts and limited himself to six strikeouts. There is certainly a lot of pressure on high draft picks to perform in their first taste of professional baseball, and Jenkins has passed the first test. Emmanuel Rodriguez joins Lee and Jenkins in most national top-100 rankings and can potentially be a top-5 prospect by 2025. He's spent his age-20 season at High-A, where he has hit .228/.391/.443 (.834) with seven doubles, five triples, and 15 home runs in 81 games. After a slow start, Rodriguez has found his power stroke in August with four home runs and a .962 OPS in 12 games to start the month. For the second straight season, he is over two years younger than the average age of the competition at his level. In over 370 plate appearances, he has only faced a younger pitcher in two at-bats. The Twins have other prospects that will be among the team's top prospects by 2025. Marco Raya, one of the team's top pitching prospects, is pitching at Double-A in his age-20 season. Connor Prielipp will miss most of the 2024 season after having his second UCL procedure in three seasons on his left arm. He should be back to full strength by 2025 and working his way back into the team's top prospect conversation. Charlee Soto, the team's 2023 competitive balance pick, has yet to make his professional debut and might be the team's top pitching prospect by 2025. Brandon Winokur has been in the same FCL Twins line-ups with Jenkins and is off to a hot start. It will be interesting to see how these two players push each other as they club the organizational ladder. Few top Twins prospects have had a clear runway at the big-league level because injuries have impacted players, including Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and Austin Martin. Prospect development only sometimes follows a linear path, and other hiccups can occur with a player's performance from top prospect to MLB contributor. Jenkins and Rodriguez have two of the highest ceilings of any prospects coming through the Twins system in quite some time, and it's exciting to project what the team's farm system can look like in two years. Will the Twins have two of baseball's top five prospects by 2025? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

Most 18-year-olds are pretty useless. I mean, @Matt Braun, at 18, was entering his Freshman year of college, and he didn't end up doing much that year outside of playing Mario Kart with his buddies on the weekend. Stone sober, of course. Classes? Don't need them; I was feeling tired anyway. That's your average 18-year-old: draining society with their laziness. Walker Jenkins is not average. After taking the Twins down to the wire in contract negotiations, he suited up for the FCL team and hit .333/.390/.537, leading to Minnesota's decision-makers declaring that they've seen enough. Jenkins was sent to Fort Myers when short-season ball ended, and he has since slashed an even better .447/.488/.684, with one strikeout. One. Hey, at least I was a menace on Rainbow Road. His performance so far has been impressive—probably even beyond what the wildest optimist could conceive—so let's look at the numbers and see if we can find some historical comparisons for the terror out of North Carolina. 40 plate appearances is a putrid sample size, but going back to 2006 (the extent of Fangraphs' minor league data), no one tops Jenkins' 1.112 OPS as an 18-year-old at A-ball. Some of his close contemporaries are Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Juan Soto... Domingo Santana... and Giancarlo Stanton. Some players around him never became stars—that happens when you look at small samples in the lower minors—but there are also some undeniable superheroes, easy Hall of Famers, who shaped the game's landscape. But stretching 40-plate appearances that thin, especially when some of these guys are sitting at 500+, is a dangerous game. Expanding the sample to all 18-year-olds with at least 100 plate appearances in a minor league season (conveniently, the number Jenkins has split between Rookie and A-Ball) gives us some interesting results. The greatest 18-and-under batter in recent MiLB history was Malcom Nuñez, who hit for a Bondsian 238 wRC+ in Rookie Ball in 2018. He's now a fringe prospect with the Pirates. So it goes. You'll still find guys like Joey Gallo and Nolan Gorman populating the leaderboard, but most young batters bashing in the low minors hit a wall somewhere in their future development, finding the older competition more challenging to dominate as all the boys mixed in with the men get filtered out eventually. Still, Jenkins is 44th on the list by OPS, tied with Austin Riley as one of the best youngsters to eviscerate his peers thoroughly. Most impressively, though, is that strikeout rate: most 18-year-olds only have a sporadic relationship with contact, finding the ball reclusive and tricky. Not Jenkins. Only one non-DSL hitter—William Bergolla of the Phillies—has a lower K-rate than him amongst 18-year-olds with at least 100 minor league plate appearances. Most are slugging at or around .400; Jenkins is at .579. Honestly, I don't think his numbers can tell us much of anything at this point; you can strangle stats until they tell you what you want to see, but the reality is, plenty of 18-year-olds have appeared to be an unstoppable comet, streaking through the sky, seemingly unable to be stopped until some force (pitchers that aren't literal teenagers) kills their momentum. It happens. It can happen here. So, be excited about Jenkins' tremendous start—lord knows I am—but practicing at least a little discipline may also be wise. Minor league stats can be informal, but they also often lie, leading to unrealistic expectations and dramatic levels of hype that can swallow you whole without you even realizing it. Jermaine Palacios once looked like an unstoppable force, after all.

It's that time of year again. On Sunday, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels and the Cedar Rapids Kernels regular seasons came to an end. The Kernels will begin their playoff run on Tuesday after winning their division titles in the first and second half. Wichita has one more week remaining in their regular season, and they are very much still in the hunt for a playoff spot. The Saints still have a couple of weeks remaining. Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Sunday. Check out the records of the Twins and their affiliates. Minnesota Twins: 73-66 St. Paul Saints: 79-58 Wichita Wind Surge: 62-69 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 82-50 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 67-64 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Before the games on Sunday, the Twins placed Jorge Polanco on the Bereavement List. They called up OF Gilberto Celestino to take his roster spot. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Louisville 3 (10 innings) Box Score The Saints and Bats needed one extra inning to decide a winner in this game. St. Paul got a first-inning run when Brooks Lee knocked his fourth Saints home run. In the fourth frame, Yunior Severino hit his eighth Saints home run (and 32 homers overall). Blayne Enlow started things for the Saints on Sunday. He gave up one run on two hits (one homer). Patrick Murphy came in and provided five scoreless innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out two batters. Jordan Balazovic gave up one hit and walked two batters and got two outs in the eighth inning. Cole Sands came in with two on and two out and got the final out of the inning. He gave up one run in the bottom of the ninth inning to send it to extra innings. After the Saints went scoreless in the top of the 10th inning, Sands gave up the unearned run in the bottom of the inning to take the loss. Trevor Larnach hit his 12th and 13th doubles with the Saints. He was the lone batter to have more than one hit. Chris Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. The Saints have two weeks remaining in their schedule. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Corpus Christi 2 Box Score The offenses were quiet through the first eight innings. As the game turned to the ninth, the Wind Surge scored two runs in the top of the inning and held on for the one-run win. The Wind Surge got on the board in the sixth inning when Alerick Soularie hit his 10th home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1. Fast-forward to the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Alex Isola walked, and Ben Ross ran for him. Seth Gray singled to right which allowed Ross to advance to third base. Jake Rucker followed with his 20th double of the season to drive in Ross and push Gray to third base. Willie Joe Garry singled to score Gray and give one extra insurance run. Jaylen Nowlin started and gave up one run on two hits and two walks and two hit batters in 2 1/3 innings. Isaac Mattson struck out three batters over the next 2 2/3 innings. He gave up just one hit. Curtis Taylor struck out four batters over the following 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Miguel Rodriguez got the final out of the eighth inning on a strikeout. He also struck out three batters in the ninth inning. He did give up two singles in the ninth, and an unearned run scored on an error, but he came up big with two strikeouts to end the game. Rucker went 3-for-4 with two doubles. Yoyner Fajardo went 3-for-4 with his 23rd double and seventh triple. Gray went 2-for-4. The Wind Surge have one more week of regular season play. They are currently just ½ game out of a playoff spot in their division. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 8 Box Score The Kernels regular season came to an end with an overall record of 82-50 and titles in the first half and the second half. They will start their playoff run on Tuesday. 2023 draft pick Luke Keaschall led the Kernels offense. He went 3-for-5 including his first High-A home runs. He had a solo homer off of a rehabbing Brewers pitcher, lefty Aaron Ashby, in the first inning. Then in the fifth frame, he hit a two-run homer. Carson McCusker added his seventh Kernels home run. He also had seven home runs in his short time in Fort Myers. Jose Salas went 2-for-4 with his 13th double. Noah Miller went 2-for-5. Misael Urbina hit his 18th double. Alejandro Hidalgo started and gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over two innings. He had one strikeout. Jackson Hicks came in and gave up three runs on five hits. He recorded three outs. AJ Labas worked an inning and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. He also threw two wild pitches. Matt Swain saved the bullpen a bit by working three scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit and hit one batter. Jarret Whorff pitched a scoreless eighth. The Kernels will travel to Peoria for Game 1 on Tuesday. Then they will have Wednesday off. Game 2 will be Thursday in Cedar Rapids, and if a Game 3 is necessary, the Kernels will host that game on Friday. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 5 Box Score The Mighty Mussels season comes to an end with a loss and a record of 67-64. They will not make the playoffs this year, so their season is done. It’s possible a couple of these players will join the Kernels for their playoff run. Manager Brian Meyer went with Johnny Wholestaff in this season finale. Ben Ethridge started and gave up one run on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out three batters. He issued a walk to start the top of the fourth inning. He left with an injury and Develson Aria came in and got just one out. However, the lefty walked two batters and hit a batter. Zach Veen came in with the bases loaded and allowed two of the inherited runners to score. Veen recorded five outs without being charged with his own run. He had two walks. Down 3-0, a Nate Baez single drove in Ricardo Olivar in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 3-1. Then two innings later, Walker Jenkins drilled a triple down the right field line to drive in Jay Harry with the team’s second run. Jenkins then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Olivar. Nolan Santos walked two over two scoreless innings. Ty Langenberg came on for the eighth inning. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. He got the first two outs in the top of the ninth frame, but with the bases loaded, he was replaced by catcher Kyle Schmidt came in and got a ground out for the final out. Jenkins went 2-for-5 in the game with his third triple. Assuming that is his final game of his debut season, he ends it by hitting .362/.417/.571 (.988) with five doubles, four triples and three home runs. In his 12 games with theMighty Mussels, he hit .392/.446/.608 (1.054) with two doubles, three triples, and a homer. Nate Baez went 2-for-4 with a walk. Kyle Schmidt - along with slamming the door on a Marauders ninth inning rally - had three walks in the game as a batter. Ricardo Olivar went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 28th double. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2-HR(2), 2 R, 3 RBI Pitcher of the Day – Patrick Murphy (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, BB, 2 K, 68 pitches, 49 strikes (72.1%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, HR(4), R, RBI #2 - Walker Jenkins (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, 3B(3) R, RBI, 2 K #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 K #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-4 #10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2-HR(2), 2 R, 3 RBI #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 3 K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(8/32), R, RBI, 1 K #16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 17 pitches, 5 strikes (29.4%) TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) - TBD Midland @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - TBD Playoffs: Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics!

TRANSACTIONS With the affiliates off on Monday, there were multiple transactions to catch up with on Tuesday: RHP Louie Varland was recalled by the Minnesota Twins to pitch out of their bullpen. In a corresponding move, RHP Cole Sands was sent back to the Saints. UT Michael Helman was assigned to the St. Paul Saints, making his return to Triple-A. Replacing Helman in Wichita, was IF Ben Ross from the Kernels. The Wind Surge activated RHP Isaac Mattson. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Louisville 3 Box Score The Saints got on the board first in the second inning when DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Yunior Severino, and Austin Martin all drew walks to load the bases. Jair Camargo brought in one with a sac fly, but Hernan Perez then lined out to keep them to just one run. Right-hander Blayne Enlow got the starting nod for the Saints and was solid through the first three innings. He scattered four hits, allowed one earned run, and struck out three. In the top of the fourth inning, the good guys broke through with a two-out rally. Martin, Camargo, and Perez all drew walks to prompt a move to the bullpen for the Bats, and Michael Helman brought them all in with a double. Alex Kirilloff followed with a run-scoring single, and it was 5-1 St. Paul. They tacked on two more runs in the fifth when Trevor Larnach led off with a single. Two batters later, Severino launched his sixth home run with the Saints, and 30th of the season to make it 7-1. Hunter McMahon was the first reliever summoned from the Saints bullpen and pitched into the fifth inning. He allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out two. He gave way to Austin Schulfer who went the next 1 2/3 innings, allowing one walk and striking out one. Jordan Balazovic started the seventh and worked around a single and a walk for a scoreless frame. In the eighth, a walk was followed by an RBI double before he was lifted for Austin Brice. In 1 2/3 innings, Balazovic was charged with one earned run on two hits and three walks. Brice finished off the final 1 1/3 innings, giving up one run on one hit and a walk. He struck out two. With the score still 7-1 in the top of the eighth, the Saints put it even farther out of reach as the first four hitters of the inning reached base, with Brooks Lee putting an explanation point on the game by slugging a grand slam the opposite way. Kirilloff (3-for-5, R, 2B, RBI) and Trevor Larnach (2-for-5, R, 2B) led the way with multiple hits for the St. Paul offense. Every hitter in the lineup scored at least one run, and Helman (1-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, K), Lee (1-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, K), and Severino (1-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K) each drove in multiple runners. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Corpus Christi 5 Box Score The Wind Surge were held to just five hits on Tuesday and were never able to mount a rally against the Hooks’ pitching, so not a whole lot to recap here. Their lone run came on Alex Isola’s 19th home run of the season in the fourth inning to give them a 1-0 lead, but it did not hold up. Starter Jaylen Nowlin was excellent in five innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits. He also walked three, but was able to work around them by punching out six. The bullpen duo of Francis Peguero (2 IP, 2 H, ER, K) and Denny Bentley (1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 K) was not able to keep that going however, allowing four runs over the final three innings. Yoyner Fajardo led the way out of the leadoff spot with two hits and a walk. As a team the Wind Surge were just 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, and left only three men on base in a game that took just two hours to complete. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Wisconsin 3 Box Score The Kernels hit the ground running early in this one, with an Emmanuel Rodriguez triple being followed by a Kala’i Rosario home run for a 2-0 lead before their starting pitcher stepped on the mound. That was righty Andrew Morris, who was excellent in the month of August, going 5-0 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts. He wasn’t able to make it to the fifth in this one, but it also could have been a lot worse. In 3 2/3 innings he gave up eight hits (all singles) and walked three, but managed to allow only three runs. He also struck out three. When he left the game in the fourth inning, his team was still in the lead thanks to a three-run third inning from his lineup. Kyler Fedko led off with his sixth home run, before consecutive walks to Noah Miller and Rodriguez put more ducks on the pond. An error led to the second run of the inning, and a sac fly from Jorel Ortega capped it off. The Kernels added an insurance run in the fifth thanks to an RBI double from Miller to score Fedko, who had walked to start the inning. The Cedar Rapids bullpen took it from there, shutting down the Timber Rattlers the rest of the way after Morris’ departure. Gabriel Yanez picked up his first win with the Kernels by completing 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two hits and struck out three. Malik Barrington (2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K) and John Stankiewicz (S, 1 IP, H, K) held Wisconsin scoreless the rest of the way. Fedko led the way with multiple hits, collecting a double in addition to his home run, and also drew two walks. Rodriguez and Fedko each scored two runs. The Cedar Rapids Kernels are your second half, and undisputed full-season, Midwest League West Division Champions, with their record sitting at 81-46, the best in all of the minor leagues. MUSSEL MATTERS Bradenton 10, Fort Myers 5 Box Score Starting pitcher Juan Mercedes was ambushed for three runs in the first inning, but settled in pretty good from there. He was able to complete five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits (two home runs accounting for most of the damage) and two walks. He struck out three. The Mighty Mussels got consecutive singles to the second inning, but it took a throwing error from the catcher for them to get a run across to cut the lead to two. In the fourth Rubel Cespedes led off with his thirteenth home run of the season, making the score 4-2 Bradenton. Wilker Reyes came on from the bullpen for Fort Myers to start the sixth inning and delivered a scoreless frame. Back out for the seventh however, he ran into trouble and was lifted after giving up a bases loaded double, allowing two runs to score. In 1 2/3 innings, Reyes was charged with two earned runs on three hits, one walk, and a hit batter, while striking out one. In the bottom of the eighth the Fort Myers lineup finally broke through for a crooked number on the scoreboard, closing the lead to just one run. The big hit came from Walker Jenkins, who delivered a two-run triple that made it 6-4. He then scored the third run of the inning on a groundout from Ricardo Olivar. Zach Veen came on after Reyes’ exit and got the next six outs. He did not allow a hit, but two walks led to two earned runs in the ninth inning. the next pitcher, Juan Mendez, wasn’t much better as he gave up a three-run home run and three walks before being lifted himself. Danny Moreno finally stopped the bleeding by getting a ground ball, but the score was now 10-5. The Mighty Mussels then went down in order to end the game. Jay Harry (2-for-4, R, 2B) and Cespedes (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, 2 K) had multiple hits in the loss. Jenkins finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, a pair of walks, and is now batting .441 with a 1.192 OPS in eight games with Fort Myers. Oh, and he’s also struck out only once. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day - Jaylen Nowlin, Wichita Wind Surge (5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K) Hitter of the Day - Brooks Lee, St. Paul Saints (1-for-4, R, Grand Slam, 4 RBI, BB, K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out our full top 20 list here and how they performed on Tuesday below! #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, GS HR (3), 4 RBI, BB, K #2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 1-for-2, R, 3B (2), 2 RBI, 2 BB #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 3B (9), 2 BB, K #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, R, 2 BB #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB #10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2B (2) #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, HR (20), 3 RBI, BB, K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, R, HR (6), 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K #16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3 WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CDT) - RHP David Festa (1-0, 1.80 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Carlos Luna (2-8, 5.56 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (12:10 PM CDT) - RHP Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.53 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Chris Paddack (MLB Rehab Assignment) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

While it's certainly not perfect - I'd love for Byron Buxton and Connor Prielipp to be healthy - I don't think there are many people that wouldn't willingly take where the organization is right now if presented this chance in the spring. The Twins have an excellent chance to make the playoffs (and have a huge series this week), Royce Lewis looks the like savior we've yearned for since Joe Mauer stopped catching, the St. Paul Saints have been exciting to follow (and a welcome distraction when the Twins have tripped over themselves both figuratively and literally *coughJoeyGallocough*) and the Cedar Rapids Kernels boast one of the most impressive rotations and winningest records in all of baseball. Oh, and first-round pick Walker Jenkins is playing a game that currently looks way too easy for him. Read all about the Twins week in Nick’s Week in Review. WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints Overall: 32-25 (3-3 last week) in the second half; In first place in the IL West by two games; tied for sixth place in the International League. Overview: The Saints had another great chance to make up ground in the standings and couldn't. Their path to the playoffs just got cloudier. 🔥: Trevor Larnach. Finally. Seven hits in 19 at-bats (including two doubles and a home run). He drove in four and walked more times (3) than he struck out (2). With the emergence of Matt Wallner and the resurgence of Max Kepler, it's hard to say how Larnach fits in the Twins long-term plans. But it certainly behooves him to not be terrible and have a week like this. 🔥: David Festa made quite an impression in his first AAA start. He fanned seven over five innings, while only allowing one run (a home run). 😍: Alex Kirilloff is rehabbing and proving that AAA is beneath him. In 17 at-bats, Kirilloff collected seven hits (including a double and a two home runs). He didn't walk and struck out three times, but all of that is good enough for a 1.236 OPS. Kirilloff is likely to rejoin the Twins later in the week. 😏: Louie Varland is making his transition to the bullpen to help out the Twins and reportedly will be joining them in Cleveland. He pitched once for the Saints and threw a pitch over 100 mph. He's going to look nice as a Minnesota reliever for the next month, but expect him to return to the rotation next season. 🥶: Jordan Balazovic (3.1 IP, 4 ER) and Andrew Bechtold (2 IP, 5 ER) both really struggled out of the Saints pen this week. 🥶: Austin Martin was lighting up Triple-A... and then this week happened. Only two hits in 23 at-bats, seven strikeouts with only two walks and one stolen base. There's a need in centerfield across the river, but performances like this aren't going to get you promoted. What's Next: Now the Saints head to Louisville (28-29) to try to make up ground. They haven't been good on the road in the second half (10-14). One nice thing is the two hottest teams in the league (Buffalo and Lehigh Valley) play each other. One not-nice thing is that Durham heads to Charlotte, who is absolutely brutal. The Saints will probably have to win five or six just to keep pace. Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Overall: 32-25 (3-3 last week) in the second half and has pushed their division lead to 3.0 games. Overview: The four-series win streak has come to an end with a split against San Antonio, but the Wind Surge remain in the driver's seat in the Texas League North Division. 🔥: Willie Joe Garry Jr might be getting his first mention of the year, but he deserves it. He collected eight hits in 19 at-bats including four doubles and two home runs. He also stole two bases. The ninth-round pick has really struggled as a pro (never hitting over .228 at any level and) but has really shined in his 22 Double-A games this year (.286/.346/.600). He's always had the ability to steal bases, but here he is over 1000 minor league plate appearances and finally showing signs of maybe figuring it out a little bit. 🔥: Most of the staff deserves mention here. Marco Raya was fantastic in four shutout innings. Aaron Rozek allowed three hits over 5 2/3 shutout innings. Denny Bentley, Taylor Floyd, and Curtis Taylor combined to pitch 10 shutout innings out of the bullpen. Pierson Ohl continues to be great, this time allowing a single run (on a home run) in 5 2/3 innings. 🔥: Tanner Schobel had seven hits (two doubles, home run) this week. 🥶: Alex Isola has gotten a lot of love at the top of these breakdowns, but a 4-for-24 week with six strikeouts puts him at the bottom of this list. He has put together a really solid year and looks deserving of getting his shot at AAA to start next year. 🥶: Jaylen Nowlin had a rough start, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. What's Next: The Wind Surge head to Corpus Christi (29-28) where a split might give some hope to Springfield (29-28) who hosts Tulsa (22-35). High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels Overall: 40-20 (5-1 last week) in the second half, five games ahead of Peoria. The Kernels have clinched a postseason berth and own a 80-46 overall record on the season. Overview: Even though both Wisconsin and Peoria have been two of the hottest teams in the Midwest League, they haven't been able to make much ground on the also-hot Kernels. 🔥: Big weeks all over as eight of the 11 Kernels with double-digits at-bats posted weeks with OPSes over .900. Emmanuel Rodriguez led the way with seven hits (three doubles, two triples, home run). Jose Salas also had seven hits and though he showed little power, stole three bases. Keoni Cavaco and Jorel Ortega both had five hits 🔥: Christian MacLeod scattered three hits and a walk in his five shutout innings. He struck out three. C.J. Culpepper (4 2/3 innings) and Cory Lewis (5 innings) also left their starters allowing no runs. 🥶: Alejandro Hidalgo posted the Kernels worse start, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks over three innings. What's Next: ... but if the Timber Rattlers (32-28) do want to make up ground, they will have a chance this week. Wisconsin, who is on an eight-game winning streak, will welcome the Kernels for six games. Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Overall: 31-28 (4-1 last week) in the second half, 7.5 games behind Lakeland. Overview: It's too bad Fort Myers got off to such a poor start in the second half, but they have been arguably the best team in the entire league over the last two-plus weeks. They are 8-2 in their last ten and have a +52 run differential (trailing only Lakeland) in the second half of the season. 😍: It's Walker Jenkins' world right now and we're all just living in it. He had nine hits (three extra base hits) in 17 at-bats. He didn't strike out, walked once and stole a base. He's improved upon all of his numbers from his stint in rookie ball and when the Mighty Mussels season ends, there is no reason he shouldn't be promoted to Cedar Rapids for the playoff push. Even if he starts next year back at low-A, it seems like it should be a pretty easy decision to allow him to be challenged this year and putting him into a playoff atmosphere would be a challenge. 🔥: Jay Harry and Ricardo Olivar are probably getting talked about more if Jenkins wasn't so impressive. Harry had seven hits including two doubles and a home run. Oliver had six hits including two doubles and a triple. Harry will just jump in line with the Schobels and Keaschalls of the organization as middle infielders who rake. 🔥: John Klein had another great start. The Minnesota native has had an exceptional six-game run in low-A and probably deserves a shot to start at a higher level. The problem, of course, is that Cedar Rapids has a loaded rotation. 😏: The 2023 draft class of pitchers is certainly on a pitch-limit, but this week all of Xander Hamilton, Ty Langenberg, Jeremy Lee and Nolan Santos pitched more than one inning and none gave up a run. I'm very intrigued to see how this group - as well as the 11 guys who haven't pitched yet - look in the spring after getting a little Velocity Camp action this fall. 🥶: The Kyle Schmidt hitless streak has no reached a new level. Two straight weeks with no hits. Last week was 0-13 with one strikeout. This week was 0-8 with two strikeouts. That either suggests extremely bad luck or inability to hit the ball very hard. What's Next: Fort Myers hosts Bradenton (37-22). Ironically, the Mighty Mussels have struggled at home in the second half and Bradenton has been excellent on the road. A split probably leaves Fort Myers with too little time to catch up, but five or six wins against Bradenton and there might be a race (though the probability still remains very, very low). PROSPECT SUMMARY This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week. The Prospect Tracker will be updated periodically throughout the season. Notice that these pages now include stats and splits, as well as past article links, video and more. Season-long stats will be in parenthesis. 20. Brent Headrick, RHP, Minnesota: Recalled to the Twins bullpen. (1.31 WHIP, .238 BAA ), St. Paul: (1.36 WHIP, .263 BAA). 19. Cory Lewis, RHP, Cedar Rapids: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 IP, 7 H, 6 K (1.08 WHIP, .205 BAA). 18. Jose Rodriguez, OF, FCL Twins: (.262/.325/.412. .737 OPS) 17. Danny De Andrade, SS, Fort Myers: 4-16, 4 RBI, R, 2 BB, 3 K, 3 SB. (.244/.353/.398. .751 OPS), played three games (85 total games) at shortstop and committed no errors in 13 chances (13 errors in 308 total chances). Previously played one game at third base and had no errors in four chances. 16. Jordan Balazovic, RHP, St. Paul: 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB. 2K. (1.65 WHIP, .266 BAA); Minnesota: (1.56 WHIP, .274 BAA). 15. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, St. Paul: 0-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, HRA, HB, 3 BB, 6 K (1.55 WHIP, .257 BAA); Minnesota: (1.56 WHIP, .274 BAA). 14. Yunior Severino, 3B, St. Paul: 4-16, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K. (AA/AAA combined .280/.357/.546. .903 OPS). 13. Kala'i Rosario, OF, Cedar Rapids: 4-15, 2 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 2 R, 4 BB, 5 K. (.255/.370/.468. .838 OPS). 12. Yasser Mercedes, OF, FCL Twins: (.196/.248/.381. .629 OPS) 11. Connor Prielipp, LHP, Cedar Rapids: Prielipp underwent season-ending elbow surgery. (1.75 WHIP, .294 BAA) 10. Luke Keaschall, 2B, Cedar Rapids: 2-5, 2B, R, 2 K, SB. (rookie/l-A/h-A combined .299/.439/.460. .899 OPS), played one game (20 total) at second base and committed no errors in one chance (one error in 61 total chances), played one game in centerfield (three games total) and had committed no errors in no chances (his first chances of the year). Previously played one game at third base and committed one error in two chances. 9. Brandon Winokur, OF, FCL Twins: (.288/.338/.545. .883 OPS), played nine games at shortstop and committed two errors in 34 chances and played seven games at centerfield and committed no errors in 19 chances. 8. Tanner Schobel, INF, Wichita: 7-22, 2 2B, HR. RBI, R, 2 BB, 7 K. (high-A/AA combined .267/.357/.440. .797 OPS), played two games (50 total) at second base and committed no errors in 9 chances (9 errors in 200 total chances), and played one game (57 total) at third base and committed no errors in five chances (four errors in 114total chances). Schobel also played his first three games at shortstop this week and committed no errors in eight chances. 7. Austin Martin, 2B/OF, St. Paul: 2-23, R, 2 BB, 7 K, SB. (rehab/AAA combined .261/.367/.402. .769 OPS), played two games (10 total) in centerfield and committed no errors in four chances (no errors in 24 total chances), played three games (33 total) at second base and committed no errors in 14 chances (four errors in 135 total chances), played one games (nine total) in left field and committed no errors in one chance (no errors in 21 total chances). 6. David Festa, RHP, St. Paul: 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 4 H, ER, HRA, BB 7 K. (AAA/AA combined 1.34 WHIP, .247 BAA) 5. Charlee Soto, RHP: Did not pitch. 4. Marco Raya, RHP, Wichita: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 K. (AA/Hi-A combined 1.14 WHIP, .207 BAA) 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Cedar Rapids: 7-18, 3 2B, 2 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 6 K. (.240/.395/.466. .861 OPS) 2. Walker Jenkins, OF, Fort Myers: 9-17, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, BB, SB. (FCL/low-A combined .372/.413/.581. .994 OPS) 1. Brooks Lee, SS, St. Paul: 6-21, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K. (AA/AAA combined .285/.355/.463. .818 OPS), played four games (99 total) at shortstop and committed one error in 25 chances (18 errors in 410 total chances) and played one game (five total) at third base and committed no errors in once (one error in 11 chances total chances). PLAYERS OF THE WEEKHITTER - Walker Jenkins, Fort Myers (72.5% of the vote) PITCHER - John Klein, Fort Myers (45.2% of the vote)

August was the month of offensive outbursts from the Dominican Summer League Twins to the Major League club itself. Highlighted by top prospects and the new faces of the 2023 draft class, seemingly everyone wanted to showcase their hitting ability this month. Choosing only five hitters felt wrong, so let's begin by celebrating the honorable mentions. Honorable Mentions Moises Lopez - DSL Twins - .306/.405/.528 (.933), 42 PA, 11 Hits, 4 BB, 12 K, two doubles, two home runs Brandon Winokur - FCL Twins - .296/.345/.556 (.901), 58 PA, 16 Hits, 3 BB, 17 K, five doubles, three home runs Luke Keaschall - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - .292/.426/.472 (.898), 94 PA, 21 Hits, 15 BB, 20 K, eight doubles, one home run Andrew Cossetti - Cedar Rapids Kernels - .259/.440/.537 (.977), 75 PA, 14 Hits, 16 BB, 20 K, two doubles, three home runs Carson McCusker - Cedar Rapids Kernels - .255/.305/.636 (.941), 59 PA, 14 Hits, 3 BB, 21 K, three doubles, six home runs Noah Miller - Cedar Rapids Kernels - .281/.350/.494 (.844), 100 PA, 25 Hits, 10 BB, 22 K, eight doubles, three home runs Emmanuel Rodriguez - Cedar Rapids Kernels - .260/.402/.479 (.881), 92 PA, 19 Hits, 18 BB, 25 K, two doubles, four home runs Hernan Perez - St. Paul Saints - .310/.383/.643 (1.026), 47 PA, 13 Hits, 5 BB, 8 K, two doubles, four home runs Andrew Stevenson - St. Paul Saints - .275/.363/.525 (.888), 91 PA, 22 Hits, 10 BB, 19 K, four doubles, four home runs #6. Walker Jenkins - FCL Twins/Fort Myers - .333/.362/.469 (.831), 74 PA, 23 Hits, 5 BB, 9 K, four doubles, two home runs The number five overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft came out of the gates as advertised, lining a double over the FCL Rays third baseman head on his first-ever professional at-bat. After this memorable moment, Jenkins managed to hit .333/.390/.537 (.927) through 59 plate appearances with the FCL Twins before being promoted to the Fort Myers Might Mussels on August 22. Since joining Fort Myers, Jenkins has hit .333/.333/.400 (.733) through just 15 plate appearances, with his highlight moment coming last week when he hit a walk-off single in his second game with the Mighty Mussels. Jenkins has met expectations so far, and his somewhat surprising promotion to Single-A Fort Myers while being an 18-year-old fresh out of high school is a sign that the Twins view Jenkins as developmentally advanced. There is a lot of hype around Jenkins, and with hype comes pressure and expectations. Whether Jenkins will be able to meet those expectations long-term is yet to be seen, but he has undoubtedly impressed during his first cup of coffee in professional baseball. #5. Patrick Winkel - Wichita Wind Surge - .318/.410/.591 (1.001), 78 PA, 21 Hits, 11 BB, 18 K, six doubles, four home runs Number five on this list comes in the form of catching prospect Patrick Winkel. Winkel, 23, was drafted in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins out of the University of Connecticut. While at the University of Connecticut, Winkel hit a .299/.357/.501 (.858) with 112 hits, 35 BB, 21 doubles, and 19 home runs over 430 plate appearances with the Huskies. Winkel had a relatively uninspiring 2022 season with the High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, hitting just .254/.330/.391 (.721), but has elevated his game hitting .272/.373/.437 (.810) since joining the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge to begin the 2023 Texas League season. The left-handed hitting Winkel has a smooth and compact swing that stays in the strike zone, not too dissimilar to that of Max Kepler, which lends to him manufacturing good at-bats that tend to lead to production. Winkel has been incredible in August, exhibiting a great sense of contact while hitting an impressive six doubles and four home runs. Twins minor league catchers have been impressive this season, and Winkel is among the top of that group. Winkel's performance has landed him just behind another impressive standout member of the Wind Surge. #4. Yoyner Fajardo - Wichita Wind Surge - .341/.423/.568 (.991), 105 PA, 30 H, 12 BB, 15 K, six doubles, four home runs Number four on this list comes in the form of the speedy and versatile Fajardo. Fajardo started his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but began his first season in the Minnesota Twins minor league system in April with the Wichita Wind Surge. Fajardo, 24, has been impressive all season, but he elevated his performance to the next level in August. Beyond hitting .341/.423/.568 (.991), Fajardo stole 17 bases in August, nine more than the next closest player in the Twins minor league system. Fajardo steals bases at a high clip and has hit the ball hard all across the park, as illustrated by his 33 extra-base hits this season. Fajardo also provides value as a utility player, playing second base, third base, designated hitter, and all three outfield positions in his professional baseball career. Fajardo has predominately played left field this season at Double-A Wichita, but versatility is still a relevant aspect of his game. Fajardo has been a pleasant surprise this season, and hopefully he can finish out his best season as a professional baseball player on a high note. #3. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. - Wichita/St. Paul - .323/.458/.576 (1.034), 85 PA, 22 Hits, 12 BB, 16 K, three doubles, two home runs Keirsey Jr. started the month out at Double-A Wichita, but after just two games, he was promoted to Triple-A St. Paul. Since joining the Saints, Keirsey Jr. has hit .297/.416/.438 (.854) with 19 hits and four extra-base hits over 64 at-bats. Keirsey Jr. has played centerfield as well as both corner outfield spots and has been a steady left-handed bat at the top of the Wind Surge and now Saints lineup. Keirsey Jr., who I have ranked as the eighth-best prospect in the Twins system, is having his best season as a member of the Twins organization, leading those who follow the team to wonder if he has Major League aspirations in the near future. Keirsey Jr. is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this upcoming offseason again, and if the Twins elect not to add him to the 40-man roster there is a relatively high chance he would get plucked by another team. If the Twins add Keirsey Jr. to the 40-man roster, Twins fans will likely watch him make his Major League debut next season. Keirsey Jr. had a great month of August, and his promotion to Triple-A St. Paul was well deserved. #2. Alex Isola - Wichita Wind Surge - .358/.424/.617 (1.041), 92 PA, 29 Hits, 10 BB, 17 K, three doubles, six home runs The runner-up for August 2023 Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is C/1B/DH Alex Isola. Isola has built off his productive 2022 season with an even more impressive 2023 season, highlighted by his breakout month of August. Through 92 plate appearances, Isola has six home runs, which ties Carson McCusker of the Cedar Rapids Kernels for the minor league system lead in August. Not only is Isola hitting home runs, but he is making sufficient contact and hitting the ball around the park. Home runs are great, but when a C/1B/DH can consistently the ball around the field for contact it begins to feel like that player, in this case Isola, might be an exceptional talent. Isola has been incredible in August, and if it weren't for the resurgence of the winner below, he would have walked away with the honor of Twins Daily Hitter of the Month for August 2023. Winner: Austin Martin - St. Paul Saints - .357/.489/.600 (1.089), 90 PA, 25 Hits, 16 BB, 11 K, five doubles, four home runs The Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month for August 2023 is the number five overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Austin Martin. For the first time since he joined the Twins minor league system, Martin is playing like the star he was at Vanderbilt. The most notable way Martin plays like that is by spraying the ball across the park while generating hard contact. Martin had 25 hits in August, which is incredible, and nine of them were extra-base hits. Now, while only 36% of a player's hits being extra-base hits isn't all too encouraging, having Martin regain form as a hitter who sprays singles around the field is encouraging. While Martin mainly shoots singles and the occasional double around the field, he has added an essential element of power to his game, showcased by the four home runs he hit in August. Martin will likely never be a power hitter - that's just not who he is - but if he can hit three to four home runs a month while being an elite contact hitter, the Twins would have themselves an exceptional player. Not only is Martin hitting the ball exceptionally well, but he is providing adequate defense at both second base and centerfield while making the occasional highlight-worthy play. Martin's incredible month at the plate has earned him the honor of Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for August 2023.

SAINTS SENTINEL Columbus 14, St. Paul 6 (F/10) Box Score Patrick Murphy drew the start Sunday evening for the Saints. He worked 5 2/3 innings of two-run baseball. Murphy allowed four hits and four walks while striking out five. Bailey Ober was optioned to Triple-A having not pitched since August 27. Without making a start today for St. Paul, it appears the desire to limit his innings is in full swing. After the Clippers kicked off the scoring in the first inning, Kyle Garlick responded with a single. Anthony Prato was on second base after his double, and he raced around to score and tie the contest. Columbus again added in the second inning, and Alex Kirilloff tied it with his second home run in two days during the third inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, St. Paul grabbed their first lead. Catching the defense napping, Gilberto Celestino brought in Yunior Severino on a bunt to score the Saints third run. Looking to create some breathing room, the Saints found a few more tallies for the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Brooks Lee, who recently was featured in a great interview by Lou Hennessy, ripped his second triple for St. Paul. Garlick came around to score on the play and make it a 4-2 game. Trevor Larnach then lofted a sacrifice fly deep enough to bring Lee the final 90 feet. After getting the first two outs in the sixth inning, Murphy gave way to Alex Scherff in relief. The Saints reliever came on and got the final out of the frame, stranding a pair of runners on first and second. After a dropped pop up between the catcher and first baseman that resulted in Celestino being called out for interference, the St. Paul outfielder was tossed and Hernan Perez took over in left field. Looking to keep the lead intact, Austin Brice came on for Scherff with two outs in the top of the seventh and the bases loaded. Johnathan Rodriguez put a charge into one but Perez caught it up against the wall to save the lead. Columbus got a run back in the eighth inning when Jhonkensy Noel launched a solo shot off of Brice. The Clippers put runners on the corners with two outs, and Toby Gardenhire decided to make a change. Michael Boyle came in to replace Brice, and hung a slider to Guardians prospect Brayan Rocchio. He blasted the pitch for a three-run homer and the Saints lead was gone, now trailing 6-5. Down to their final out in the ninth inning, Lee stepped in and sent a baseball flying into the night. He launched his second Triple-A homer, and did it with his fourth hit of the night. Looking to make a playoff push, St. Paul had forced extras. Unfortunately Boyle struggled to get outs in the 10th inning and Andrew Bechtold gave up plenty as well. Columbus piled back on to the tune of a 14-6 advantage. The Saints couldn't get any momentum back going in their half of the 10th inning, and the big Columbus explosion was how things ended. Lee finished with a four-hit night while Kirilloff and Severino each had a pair of their own. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 4, San Antonio 3 Box Score Sunday was Travis Adams' turn to take the ball for Wichita. He worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. The Wind Surge starter also gave up three walks, but struck out five. San Antonio scored first with a pair of first inning runs. It was in the bottom of the second that Wichita provided their first answer. Will Holland doubled for the 10th time this season, and the base hit brought home both Patrick Winkel and Willie Joe Garry Jr. to tie the contest. After the Missions added a run with a third inning solo shot, the Wind Surge got the run back during the sixth inning. Aaron Sabato stepped in and blasted his 11th home run of the season. Needing just one run to walk it off, Michael Helman stepped in with runners on 1st and 2nd down to the final out. His single brought Holland across the plate, and the Wind Surge sent fans home happy. Despite recording nine hits on the day, it was a team effort for Wichita with only Tanner Schobel having a pair to his credit. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 12, Lake County 0 Box Score Seeking a victory to wrap up the weekend, Cedar Rapids turned to Christian MacLeod on Sunday. He worked five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and a walk. MacLeod also struck out three. While it took a few innings for the Kernels to get going, they went to work in a big way late. During the fifth inning, Keoni Cavaco launched a three-run shot to score Andrew Cossetti and Jose Salas. A three-run frame in the sixth inning was had on a Salas single to score Jorel Ortega, and a Jeferson Morales double to bring home both Cossetti and Salas. In the seventh inning, the Kernels continued their run of threes. This time it was Carson McCusker bringing home Ortega on a double before Cossetti scored on a wild pitch. Then Morales grounded out, but not without McCusker coming home in the process. With no reason to stop adding, Cedar Rapids saw another opportunity for a fourth-straight three-run inning during the eighth. Emmanuel Rodriguez scored on a single by Cossetti, and Salas drove Ortega home on a single of his own. With the bases loaded and Morales batting, his two-out walk brought Cossetti across the plate. Cavaco ended the inning as the next batter, and the 12 runs across four late innings was an impressive bit of production for the Kernels. Lake County went down quietly during the ninth inning, and Cedar Rapids secured the victory. Salas went 4-for-4 Sunday, while Cossetti added two of his own. MUSSEL MATTERS Clearwater 3, Fort Myers 2 Box Score Ben Ethridge got the start Sunday morning for the Mighty Mussels. He turned in five innings of three-run ball. Ethridge gave up four hits and two walks while striking out five. Fort Myers scored first when Maddux Houghton stole home. Jay Harry stole second and Clearwater threw down on the play allowing the run to score. During the fifth inning, Clearwater plated three runs and took the lead. Walker Jenkins, who already tripled in the contest, singled home Dillon Tatum in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game. The comeback came up short with Fort Myers falling by one. With the loss, Fort Myers saw their eight-game winning streak snapped. Jenkins had two hits, which accounted for half of the Mighty Mussels production on the day. It was also his sixth straight multi-hit game, and he owns a .438/.455/.656 slash line in his first seven games for Fort Myers. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Christian MacLeod (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 4-5, R, 2 RBI, 3B(1), HR(2) K #2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-4, 3B(1), RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, BB, 2 K #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-3, BB, K #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-3, R, 2 BB, K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 0-4, K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35PM CST) - TBD Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35PM CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 CST) - TBD Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games!

TRANSACTIONS RHP Jordan Balazovic recalled by Twins SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Omaha 7 Box Score Brent Headrick took the ball Thursday for the Saints and worked four innings of four-run baseball (three earned). He walked just one, gave up three hits, and struck out six on the evening. St. Paul gave Headrick a lead to work with in the second inning. Yunior Severino lofted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Trevor Larnach. Hernan Perez then picked up one of his five hits in the game. His single scored both Anthony Prato and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. In the third inning, the Saints were out to bury Omaha early. Keirsey Jr. hit his first Triple-A homer, and the three-run shot also brought Brooks Lee and Kyle Garlick home. Tony Wolters then added a two-run single later in the frame that scored both Severino and Perez. Through three innings, it was an 8-0 game. Headrick's trouble came in a four-run fourth inning, but St. Paul responded with one of their own in the fifth inning. Perez singled again, this time scoring Keirsey Jr. Another single from Perez, scoring Keirsey Jr. again, making it 10-4 in the 7th inning. Omaha added a run in the seventh on their own and a pair in the eighth, but the comeback fell short. St. Paul recorded 18 hits Thursday night, and Perez accounted for five. Andrew Stevenson, Garlick, Keirsey Jr., Severino, and Wolters each had a pair. Despite being his 1,645th professional game, tonight was the first five-hit of Perez's career. Stevenson's hit also set a new single-season Saints record, surpassing Tomas Telis' total in 2021. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 4, Arkansas 1 Box Score Wichita, facing the top team in the Northern Division of the Texas League, sent Jaylen Nowlin to the bump. He turned in 5 2/3 innings of one-run (unearned) baseball. Nowlin gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out four. Wichita opened the scoring on a Patrick Winkel first-inning single. Tanner Schobel raced across the plate, and the first four runs in the frame were home. Jake Rucker lifted a single to right field, allowing Winkel time to cross the plate. Alerick Soularie then grabbed a single to bring Aaron Sabato and Rucker home. That four-run lead held up throughout the game, and the Travelers sixth-inning run ended unhelpful. Alex Isola didn't homer tonight, but he did have a two-hit game. Rucker had three hits on the evening as well. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 14, South Bend 8 Box Score The Kernels turned to Cory Lewis on Thursday night, and he worked 3 2/3 innings while allowing three runs on five hits. Lewis did also walk a pair but got seven strikeouts in the contest. After giving up two first-inning runs, Cedar Rapids got on the board when Andrew Cossetti went deep for his seventh big fly of the year. Noah Miller followed Cossetti's lead with a two-run blast in the third inning. Miller's eighth dinger of the year also brought in Keoni Cavaco. Jose Salas kept the scoring with a single that South Bend booted around. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Kala'i Rosario scored on the play before Salas chased them in. Up 6-2, Carson McCusker went deep for the fifth time to make it a 7-2 game. Cedar Rapids gave one back in the bottom of the third inning, but they added again in the fourth inning. Miller tripled home Cavaco before Ben Ross doubled in Rodriguez. Leading 9-3 in the sixth inning, Rosario scored Miller on a sacrifice fly, and Ross brought Rodriguez in again with a single. By the bottom of the seventh inning, South Bend inched closer to make things interesting. Cedar Rapids held on to just an 11-8 lead entering the ninth inning, but McCusker put it away with his second blast of the night. This one scored Cossetti and Salas to make it a 14-8 game and secure the victory. Both clubs had 12 hits on Thursday, but Cedar Rapids was able to do more damage with theirs. Miller, Ross, McCusker, and Cavaco each had two hits in the game. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Daytona 1 (F/10) Box Score After the promotion became official yesterday, the hype for Walker Jenkins to be in the Fort Myers lineup was here. He fared incredibly well in limited rookie ball action, and Minnesota decided to challenge him the rest of the way at Single-A. Miguelangel Boadas got the start for Fort Myers and worked 4 2/3 innings. He allowed only an unearned run on four hits. Boadas didn't walk anyone and struck out a trio of Tortugas. The Tortugas struck first with a run during the opening frame. Danny De Andrade answered with his 11th home run, a fifth inning solo shot. Needing extras, Maddux Houghton played hero on a sacrifice fly to score Jay Harry and walk it off. Jenkins finished the night 0-for-4 but made contact each time he stepped in. Fort Myers had just two hits on the night, but they squeezed everything out of limited opportunity. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin (Wichita) - 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR(6) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-5, R, BB, 2 K #2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 0-4 #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 3 R, BB, 2B, K #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, R, BB #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1, R, RBI, 3 BB #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-3, R, RBI, BB, K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 1-4, R, RBI, HR(11) #19 - Cory Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K #20 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper Dayton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - RHP John Klein Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games!

SAINTS SENTINEL Omaha 5, St. Paul 3 Box Score The Saints started Michael Boyle as an opener on Sunday and he gave them three innings. Four runs scored on two hits and two walks while Boyle failed to record a strikeout. The Storm Chasers ripped off four runs in the first inning to grab a big lead. In the bottom of the second inning, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. recorded his second big fly at Triple-A to put the Saints on the board. In the third inning Willi Castro singled home Chris Williams before Kyle Garlick played Andrew Stevenson on a ground out. Down by just one, the Saints allowed another run during the fifth inning and saw the lead pushed to 5-3. Austin Martin went 2-for-2 as the only Saints hitter to record a pair of hits. Jovani Moran worked a scoreless inning of relief while striking out the side. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Arkansas 5 Box Score Travis Adams took the ball for the Wind Surge Sunday. He gave up just a single run on five hits while walking two and striking out four. Patrick Winkel kicked off the scoring with a first inning solo blast. Aaron Sabato launched a solo dinger of his own in the second inning to make it 2-0. In the third inning, Tanner Schobel tripled home Will Holland and Wichita had a 3-0 lead. In the fifth inning Yoyner Fajardo homered for the eighth time, bringing home Willie Joe Garry Jr., and giving the good guys a 5-0 lead. After giving back a run in the sixth and seventh innings, Holland stole second allowing Alerick Soularie to come home in the ninth inning. Arkansas answered with a three-run blast in the bottom half, but came up one-run short. Sabato had a trio of hits on the afternoon with Fajardo grabbing two of his own. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, South Bend 1 Box Score It was Kyle Jones on the bump Sunday for Cedar Rapids. He put up 6.0 innings of one-run baseball on just four hits. Jones allowed only a single walk and struck out seven. Cedar Rapids started with three runs in the first inning. Jorel Ortega singled home Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez before Andrew Cossetti tripled for the third time. His three-base hit brought home Ortega and made it a 3-0 game. In the second inning Miller singled to center field and Carson McCusker raced home. After giving back a run on a third inning solo shot, the Kennels added their fifth when Jose Salas scored on a wild pitch during the fourth inning. Kyler Fedko blasted his fifth homer during the sixth inning, and the solo shot gave Cedar Rapids a 6-1 lead. Kala’i Rosario then lifted a sacrifice fly during the eighth inning to score Fedko and make it a 7-1 game. Miller had three hits out of the leadoff spot, and Cossetti combined with Fedko to grab a pair each. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Daytona 4 (F/10) Box Score The Mighty Mussels had Juan Mercedes take the ball on Sunday afternoon. He worked four innings of three-run baseball. Mercedes allowed five hits but just one walk. He did strike out two on the afternoon. Fort Myers scored first when Rubel Cespedes singled home Walker Jenkins in the first inning. They gave up a pair during the second inning, and allowed another in the third inning. During the sixth inning, they found an answer. Cespedes clubbed his 12th homer of the season, and the two-run shot brought in Danny De Andrade as well to tie the game. After Dayton scored in the top of the 10th inning, Fort Myers walked it off in the bottom half. Jenkins singled home Luke Keaschall and Ricardo Olivar launched his 10th home run to trot the bases safely. Olivar, Cespedes, Jenkins, and Maddux Houghton each had a pair of hits on the day. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Kyle Jones (Cedar Rapids) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Hitter of the Day – Rubel Cespedes (Fort Myers) - 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR(12) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 2 R, RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 3 BB, R, 2 K #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-2, 2B, BB #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-5, RBI, 3B(1) #10 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 1-4, R, BB #13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, RBI, K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) -1-3, R, BB, 2 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - TBD San Antonio @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - TBD Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:300PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games!

TRANSACTIONS UTIL Willi Castro begins rehab assignment with St. Paul RHP Alex Scherff transferred to St. Paul from Wichita SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Omaha 7 Box Score Looking to get off the injured list after dealing with an oblique issue, Willi Castro started for the Saints on Friday night batting second as the designated hitter. Simeon Woods Richardson made the start and turned in six innings of three-run baseball. He allowed five hits and three walks while striking out three. Omaha got up by a pair in the first inning, and added a third in the third inning. The Saints came out for the fourth inning and started to chip away. Jair Camargo singled home both Austin Martin and Willi Castro to draw within one. In the fifth inning, Hernan Perez blasted his sixth home run to score Gilberto Celestino and take the lead. Martin then stole third base and came home when the ball got away. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. kept things going with a double that brought Castro home and all of a sudden it was a 6-3 lead. After a 5-for-5 game last night, Perez made his mark on this one with his second homer of the game. A three-run shot in the sixth inning scored Yunior Severino and Celestino. St. Paul now had a comfortable 9-3 lead. Castro is down with the Saints working to return for Minnesota, but with an option remaining, it’s curious if the Twins would opt for Martin instead. The key piece acquired for Jose Berrios has been on fire of late, and he’s a legitimate outfield option at all three spots. Although the Twins have returning players that will probably take September roster spots, Martin continues to prove his worth. Ronny Henriquez and Kody Funderburk combined for three scoreless innings to close out the win. Martin was joined by Celestino and Perez with two hits on the evening. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 11, Arkansas 1 Box Score Despite his innings now being limited, Marco Raya took the ball to start for Wichita on Friday. He worked 2 2/3 innings allowing one run on two hits. Raya walked two and struck out just one. Arkansas grabbed a first inning run, but the WInd Surge took a lead in the third inning. Jake Rucker singled home Yoyner Fajardo and Tanner Schobel to grab a 2-1 cushion. The Wind Surge put up runs in a big way during the fourth inning. Rucker singled again, this time with the bases loaded, and he brought home Alerick Soularie and Ernie Yake. Not wanting to leave anyone on the bases, Alex Isola blasted his 18th home run. Fajardo and Rucker scored on the big fly and it was suddenly a 7-1 game. In the fifth inning Wichita exploded again. This time they came up with four runs and made it an 11-1 game. Fajardo singled home Soularie before Schobel’s single brought home both Fajardo and Yake. Isola then added a single to drive in Schobel and the rout was on. Unfortunately, a ten-run rule wasn’t in action Friday. Fajardo, Rucker, and Isola all recorded three hits apiece. Schobel added two of his own on Friday night. KERNELS NUGGETS South Bend 18, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score After the Kernels put up 14 on Thursday night, it was South Bend’s turn for a big outing on Friday. C.J. Culpepper was chased after just three outs. He allowed five runs on seven hits, one of which left the yard. Culpepper didn’t give up a walk, but struck out two. Cedar Rapids was down after the first inning thanks to a five-spot by the Cubs. Kyle Fedko did triple in the second inning to score Misael Urbina but the run was quickly wiped out. South Bend added a pair in the second, third, fourth, and sixth innings. The Kernels sprinkled one more in during their portion of the sixth inning on a passed ball that allowed Noah Cardenas to score. From there, the Cubs added another seven and made Friday night’s contest a complete laugher. It only counts as one win, but it was an ugly loss. Cedar Rapids finished with just four hits and no one recorded more than one. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Daytona 2 (F/10) Box Score John Klein started Friday night for the Mighty Mussels and he was nothing short of electric. Throwing six innings of one-hit baseball, Klein didn’t give up a run. He did allow three walks, but punched out nine on the evening. Similar to Thursday night, scoring was at a premium for Daytona and Fort Myers. The Mighty Mussels notched the first tally with a fifth inning single from Gregory Duran. Three throwing errors on the play by the Tortuga’s allowed Duran to come around for a little league homer. In the fifth Walker Jenkins picked up his first Single-A hit, a single, as well. Nolan Santos uncorked a wild pitch in the seventh inning to give Daytona their first run, and a second came around to take the lead before the frame was over. Jenkins recorded his first Single-A extra-base hit on a seventh inning double, and with Luke Keaschall crossing the plate, he tied the game. After going 0-for-4 last night, Jenkins stepped in with the game on the line. He picked up his third hit and drove in Alec Sayre to walk it off for the Mighty Mussels. His 3-for-6 effort was the only multi-hit appearance for Fort Myers. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Fort Myers) - 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K Hitter of the Day – Hernan Perez (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR(7) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2 K #2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 3-6, 2 RBI, 2B(1), K #4 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K #7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-5, 2 R, 2B(7), SB(11) #8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K #10 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 1-4, BB, 2B(6), 2 K #14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, 2 K #15 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K #17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 1-5, 2 K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews Dayton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games!

In the second episode - we tackle three main topics: Updated Farm System Rankings - We looked at how MLB Pipeline and BA ranked organizational talent for the Twins, Brewers, and Cubs. Draft Review for the Cubs - A deeper look at the Cubs picks. We will take turn our focus to the Brewers next week. Listener Questions - We answered questions on Marco Raya, Twins organizational pitching depth, and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Time Stamps: Farm System Rankings: 4:00 Favorite prospects in Cubs/Brewers Systems: 16:50 Jamie's Favorite Cubs/Brewers: 21:44 Cubs Draft Recap: 29:25 Matt Shaw Talk: 34:11 Jaxon Wiggins: 39:08 Listener Questions: 52:45 News and Notes: 1:02:47 You can find Destination: The Show on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music. (There may be some delay in getting the first episode through their approval process.). The show is available on Libsyn, our podcasting platform. You're also able to watch the video-version on YouTube. We're welcome to any feedback, so please let us know in the comments below, feedback on the show pages or through Twitter (@J_D_Cameron, @jeremynygaard, @TheodoreTollef1, @DTS_POD1). If you liked what you heard, please leave us a five star rating and a positive review wherever you get your podcasts. Special thanks to Theo Tollefson for being the show's producer, Thiéres Rabelo for our logo and the crew of John Bonnes, Brock Beauchamp and Seth Stohs for their continued support of the show.

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

In the first episode - after we tell you a little bit about ourselves - we tackle three main topics: Hot Starts for 2023 Draftees - We each made choices for the three teams that we covered for the draft. Draft Review for the Twins - A deeper look at the Twins picks. We will take turn our focus to Cubs and Brewers in future episodes. Listener Questions - Keeping this first episode a little more Twins-focused, we answered a couple listener questions. You can find Destination: The Show on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music. (There may be some delay in getting the first episode through their approval process.). The show is available on Libsyn, our podcasting platform. You're also able to watch the video-version on YouTube. We're welcome to any feedback, so please let us know in the comments below, feedback on the show pages or through Twitter (@J_D_Cameron or @jeremynygaard). Special thanks to Theo Tollefson for being the show's producer, Thiéres Rabelo for our logo and the crew of John Bonnes, Brock Beauchamp and Seth Stohs for getting us all set up. Thanks for listening and we look forward to your feedback!

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

Walker Jenkins is an incredibly exciting prospect for the Twins and he had a big day in the FCL today. But there are some exciting prospects who finally made their way to the Saints last week and will be playing their first games at CHS Field this week. In addition, the organization's most electric player begins his rehab with the Saints and may have an opportunity on Wednesday to face a high school opponent and Team USA teammate who is rehabbing as well. In addition, there are some really, really cool events planned for the fans at the stadium. And one of the premiere prospect gurus will be at CHS Field on Friday night to sign copies of his new book. So much more below, so check out today's Minor League Report. And check out @Jeremy Nygaard's Minor League Week in Review as well. Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Monday. Minnesota Twins: 60-54 St. Paul Saints: 61-46 Wichita Wind Surge: 43-58 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 63-39 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-53 FCL Twins: 18-25 DSL Twins: 9-32 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Kernels closer Miguel Rodriguez was promoted to Double-A Wichita. LHP Jarret Whorff was promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. The Mighty Mussels have added RHP John Klein from the FCL Twins. RHP and 2022 Competitive Balance Pick Charlee Soto has been assigned to the FCL Twins. Infielder Cole Tate decided to retire. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul, Louisville The Saints are back at home for the next two weeks with another exciting week of event and ball games. Of course, I’m guessing the #1 reason to get to CHS Field just might be because Brooks Lee, Yunior Severino, and DaShawn Keirsey were promoted to the Saints last week and will be playing their first games at home. Oh, and Royce Lewis is set to begin his rehab assignment with the Saints. For sure, you'll want to see that pitching matchup on Wednesday. (also, be sure to "Like" Twins Daily on Facebook) But I want to encourage you to head to CHS Field on Friday for that game (and the others too, of course). You may have seen him on MLB Network, and on MLB.com’s draft coverage, he certainly knows prospects. Jonathan Mayo will be at the ballpark that night signing copies of his new book, Smart, Wrong, and Lucky; The Origin Stories of Baseball’s Unexpected Stars. I got my copy on Amazon a few weeks ago, and I will tell you it is fantastic. In addition, Jonathan is a terrific person who clearly loves what he is doing and has a strong passion for writing about, talking about, and really promoting prospects and the minor leagues and the scouts who found them. Get to meet him at CHS Field on Friday (August 11th). In addition, Harvey Kuenn III will be recognized for being named to the Roland Hemond Scouts Hall of Fame. And hey, there will be some really good baseball being played with some really intriguing players. Tuesday: Simeon Woods Richardson Wednesday: Randy Dobnak Thursday: Blayne Enlow vs. a rehabbing Hunter Greene (with a rehabbing Royce Lewis… that’s three Team USA teammates from their high school days) Friday: Louie Varland Saturday: TBD Sunday: Simeon Woods Richardson Tickets Available! Click here. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids , Quad Cities If you happen to be in eastern Iowa or western Illinois, head to the Quad Cities this week and check out one of the most photogenic stadiums in minor-league baseball, and see a really good, really young Kernels team take on the River Bandits. Here are the pitching probables: Tuesday: Zebby Matthews Wednesday: Kyle Jones Thursday: Christian MacLeod Friday: Andrew Morris Saturday: Cory Lewis Sunday: C.J. Culpepper COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA FCL Twins 9, FCL Rays 7 Box Score Walker Jenkins had a pretty big role in the Twins win on Monday afternoon. It was quite the breakout. He came to the plate with two outs in the top of the first inning and rippled a double to left field. With no score, Jenkins came to the plate in the top of the third inning. The bases were loaded. Jenkins crushed the first home run of his professional career, a grand slam that gave the team a 4-0 lead. The Twins scored another four runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-0 lead. First, Isaac Pena singled in Wilfri Castro. Pena stole a base, and when Daniel Pena walked on a pitch that went to the backstop which brought in another run. Soon after, Jenkins walked to load the bases. That was followed by a Brandon Winokur walk that allowed Daniel Pena to score. Jose Salas scored on a wild pitch, the Twins eighth run of the game. In the ninth inning, Harold Grant scored the team’s ninth run on a wild pitch. When it was 8-0, one would have been surprised to know that it was a nice insurance run. Jacob Wosinski made the start. He was charged with two runs on four hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out five batters. Kyle Bischoff came on and was charged with four runs (2 earned) on three hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out just one batter. Yon Landaeta came on and went the final 2 1/3 innings. He gave up an unearned run on one hit. He walked two and struck out two to record his third save. Along with his first pro homer, he added his second double. He was 2-for-5 with a walk. Jose Rodriguez went 2-for-4 and hit his ninth double. Isaac Pena was 2-for-3 with his third triple. He also stole his eighth base. Byron Chourio led off and reached three times via walk. Jose Salas was in a lineup for the first time since July 16th when the Kernels were playing in Cedar Rapids. He was first placed on the Kernels’ development list, but recently he was activated and assigned to the FCL Twins. Monday was his first game. He went 1-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. He played second base and had an error. He just turned 20 years old. The average age of players in the FCL is 19.5. The average age in the Florida State League is 21.1. He was in Cedar Rapids and the average Midwest League player is 22.2. As you can see, this “reset” should not damper his ceiling in the eyes of fans. Maybe the Marlins pushed him way too fast a year ago by getting him to High-A so quickly. At the same time, it also lowers his potential floor. That said, I’m a big believer in taking that step back, just playing, working on things and then getting back. As we often say, “prospect development is rarely linear.” COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins 1, DSL Phillies White 0 (suspended bottom 2) Box Score This game was over almost before it started. I mean, they got through about 1 1/2 innings before the rains came. Yilber Herrera led off the game with a triple and scored soon after on a sacrifice fly by Denyerbe Gervis. Juan Cota started for the Twins. He struck out every single batter he faced in the outing - I mean, all three of them. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day – Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 2-for-5, BB, 2B(2), HR(1), R, 4 RBI Pitcher of the Day – Yon Landaeta (FCL Twins) - 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Monday. #2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 2-for-5, BB, 2B(2), HR/GS(1), R, 4 RBI #5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-for-0, PR #6 - Charlee Soto (FCL Twins) - assigned to FCL Twins #13 - Brandon Winokur (FCL Twins) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, RBI, 2 K #18 - Jose Salas (FCL Twins ) - 1-for-5, BB, 2 R, 2 K. #19 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 42 pitches, 28 strikes (66.7%) #20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-4, BB, 2B(9), K. TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES Louisville @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-5, 5.62 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-1,4.81 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares (2-3, 5.86 ERA) FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) - TBD DSL Giants Orange @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics!

TRANSACTIONS OF Walker Jenkins assigned to FCL Twins SS Brooks Lee promoted to Triple-A St. Paul OF DaShawn Keirsey Jr. promoted to Triple-A St. Paul INF Yunior Severino promoted to Triple-A St. Paul INF Ernie Yake assigned to Double-A Wichita OF Willie Joe Garry Jr promoted to Double-A Wichita INF Dalton Shuffield promoted to Double-A Wichita SAINTS SENTINEL Columbus 6, St. Paul 3 Box Score The big news for St. Paul was the promotion of Brooks Lee from Double-A Wichita. He wasn’t in the lineup for Thursday’s matinee action, but presumably will be tomorrow. It was Randy Dobnak’s turn on the mound, and he’s put together a great run of outings recently. Going five strong (no runs, no hits), Dobnak didn’t get an out in the sixth inning and was lifted following three hits. He was charged with three runs while walking four and striking out seven. Staying hot, Andrew Stevenson tripled for the sixth time this season, and then Anthony Prato’s 18th double brought him home and put the Saints on the board. Dobnak took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but then things unraveled. Columbus grabbed three straight hits, and when Mark Contreras threw to the cutoff man after the final one, Jair Camargo lazily played the throw, booting it, and allowing a run to score. Jose Tena doubled off of Ronny Henriquez to bring in both inherited runners, and St. Paul was now looking at a 3-1 deficit. In the seventh inning Austin Martin made a poor throw to catcher Tony Wolters, allowing a run to score, before a sacrifice fly plated another for the Clippers. Mounting a comeback in the eighth inning, Camargo blasted a two-run shot that was completely annihilated. After Gilberto Celestino walked, he was able to jog around the rest of the bases. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, and facing Guardians prospect George Valera, Michael Boyle walked in a run allowing his first run of the season. James Karinchak, still working to figure out his command issues on the farm for Cleveland, got the ninth against the Saints. He closed it out and the Saints fell 6-3 on Thursday. Camargo was the lone St. Paul hitter to record multiple hits. WIND SURGE WISDOM Tulsa 10, Wichita 0 Box Score Carlos Luna got the ball tonight for Wichita and went 4 1/3 innings allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. He didn't give up a walk but struck out three. A pair of homers did him in. Jorbit Vivas launched a solo homer for Tulsa in the first inning to open the scoring. They added another in the third inning to make it 2-0 and tacked on a third during the fourth inning. Vivas plated another with a sacrifice fly during the fifth inning and Tulsa led 4-0. Josh Stowers made matter worse for the Wind Surge when he blasted a two-run homer in the sixth inning. For a team pilfered of talent today, things could have been going better. Vivas kept being a pest with a seventh inning single, and the score was now 7-0. Diego Cartaya added another on a single before Stowers did more damage and it was 10-0 deficit. Yoyner Fajardo did have a pair of hits out of the leadoff spot tonight, but those were two of the three Wichita hits. This was one to forget. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Lansing 5 Box Score Kyle Jones started tonight for Cedar Rapids and went five innings allowing four runs on eight hits. Two homers were the big bugaboo, but he did strike out three while walking none. After getting down 1-0 in the first inning, Cedar Rapids answered with runs of their own. Kala'i Rosario doubled for the 24th time scoring both Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez before Andrew Cossetti brought him in on a sac fly. The three runs were enough to win the inning and give the Kernels a 3-1 lead. A Carson McCusker third inning single drove in Cossetti and made it a 4-1 game. Emmanuel Rodriguez added another run in the fourth inning with his 14th homer of the season, and the addition was necessary as Lansing scored three in the top of the fifth. Brennan Milone homered in the sixth even to even the score, and the Kernels lead was gone. In the eighth inning Noah Miller roped his 11th double, driving in Kyler Fedko, and putting the Kernels back in front. Ben Ross then took a bases loaded walk to bring home Miller before the inning ended. Ross grabbed a pair of hits as did Noah Cardenas. A.J. Labas and Niklas Rimmel combined to work scoreless relief for Cedar Rapids. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 11, Dunedin 1 Box Score Juan Mercedes made the start Thursday for Fort Myers. He worked four innings of two-hit baseball allowing just a single unearned run. Mercedes also struck out four while scattering three walks. After getting behind in the first inning, Fort Myers took a second inning lead and never gave it back. Maddux Houghton singled to score Nate Baez before a balk during Jay Harry's at bat allowed Dylan Neuse to come home. In the third inning Neuse recorded his 13th double of the season to bring home Rafael Cruz, and then Kyle Schmidt singled home both Baez and Neuse. In the fifth inning Alec Sayre lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Cruz again, and make it a 6-1 game. Another balk, this time with Yohander Martinez batting, allowed Sayre to cross the plate and make it 7-1. Ricardo Olivar singled in Houghton during the inning to add another run, and Baez walked on a wild pitch that allowed Olivar an opportunity to scamper home. In the ninth inning Martinez reached on an error that allowed Schmidt to score before Olivar drew a bases loaded walk driving in Sayre. For the second time today, the Twins system was part of an 11-1 game in Florida, but this time they were on the right side of it. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Rays 11, FCL Twins 1 Box Score It was an exciting day for the FCL Twins as they wrote 2023 first-round pick Walker Jenkins’ name in the lineup for the first time. Brayan Medina was on the bump to start the game, but allowed three runs on two hits before being removed from the game without recording an out. Jenkins batted third for the FCL Twins, and that slotted him in just ahead of fellow Twins draftee Brandon Winokur. In Jenkins’ first professional at bat, he ripped a double to left field. Pitching woes continued for the Twins, this time reliever Pierce Banks, as he allowed a five-spot in the fourth inning to make it a 9-0 game. The Twins did get on the board in the fourth inning when Endy Rodriguez singled home Winokur. They needed to get to work if a comeback was in the cards. Unfortunately the Rays added two more runs, making it an 11-1 lead. With 16 hits on the day, they had plenty of opportunities. Jenkins finished with two hits, on of which was a double, and a stolen base during his debut. He was the lone Twins batter to record a pair of hits on the afternoon. DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Cardinals 6, DSL Twins 3 (F/7) Box Score The DSL Twins faced off against the same organization the big league club is playing later on Thursday. Yency De Jesus made the start and worked five strong innings of no-hit baseball. He allowed a pair of walks but struck out five. Moises Lopez opened the scoring in the first inning with a single that scored Jayson Bass. The Twins added another in the second inning on a solo shot by Ewing Matos, his first as a professional. In the third inning, Hendry Chivilli lofted a sacrifice fly allowing Ariel Castro an opportunity to cross the plate. Unfortunately, things got out of hand in the sixth inning and the Cardinals took the lead. Adding two more in the top of the seventh, the lead now was 6-3. No Twins hitters recorded multiple hits, and they couldn’t mount a comeback. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K Hitter of the Day – Dylan Neuse (Fort Myers) - 3-4, 3 R, RBI, 2B(13), BB, K PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - Did not play, but he was promoted to the Saints. #2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 2-4, 2B, SB(1) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-2, 2 R, RBI, BB, HR(14) #5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-3, K #8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-1, 3 BB, K, SB(6) #10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-2 #13 - Brandon Winokur (FCL Twins) - 1-3, R, BB, K #16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B(24), 2 K #20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-4 FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05PM CST) - LHP Blayne Enlow Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya Lansing @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Christian MacLeod Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games!

While Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes, both stars at LSU, were often talked about as the top pick, it was accepted that five players would have potentially been first overall picks in most other drafts. That included Florida’s Wyatt Langford and prep stars Max Clark and Walker Jenkins. With the board falling as it did, Sean Johnson was able to grab the talented young slugger committed to North Carolina. It took a bit for him to sign as super-agent Scott Boras attempted to work out the most lucrative signing bonus, ultimately coming in just over slot. Now inked, and having seen his future home of Target Field, he’s down in Fort Myers and ready to go. Before he gets into game action, Jenkins spared some time to talk about the next step in his baseball journey. Twins Daily: With this draft having multiple players graded out as a first overall type of talent, how cool was it being thought of among that group? What was the draft experience like? Walker Jenkins: I mean, it’s awesome. All of those guys considered in that top five are great ballplayers. To be categorized in that area is an honor, to be totally honest. The draft experience was amazing. To have my family and everyone that supported me there for me, and being with me, it was awesome. TD: Coming out of high school and having already committed to North Carolina, once you start coming into your own, when does it transition to thinking about becoming a pro right from the prep ranks? WJ: I always kind of looked at things as having stepping stones, and goals or check marks along the way. The first goal was to commit somewhere for college and possibly go play at that level. Obviously you want to get drafted as high as you can out of high school, but it doesn’t always work that way. With the pressure of being a high school kid that’s committed, it’s something that you just kind of have to learn to deal with. I feel like you have to accept that pressure to be successful at the next level, regardless of where that’s at. TD: You played in the PDP league alongside of fellow Twins draftees Charlee Soto and Brandon Winokur. What is your relationship like with them, and how cool does it feel to go into an organization having familiar faces with you? WJ: It was really cool. We all texted each other when the draft was over. We all played on the same PDP team so we got to build a bit of a relationship. It’s nice having some guys going into this. It’s a whole new world, and something you’re not familiar with, so having some guys to do it with me makes it a lot easier. TD: Knowing you still have areas to grow, what are you most looking forward to when it comes to being around professional staff and facilities? WJ: I think constantly being around guys that know so much and can help my game all around. Baseball is such a game of adjustments, pitch-to-pitch, play-to-play, and having guys that can spot the small things and help you make those adjustments is something I’m looking forward to the most. TD: You have been classified as a corner outfielder, and sometimes those players get pigeon-holed as being a big power hitter. What is your game in your eyes? WJ: I definitely say I’m an all-around player. I don’t think people give me enough credit for my athleticism sometimes. I think I have the ability to stick in centerfield. Ultimately that comes down to the coaches, what they think. I’m going to do everything I can to help whatever team I’m on win. TD: Jumping from high school to pro ball, what do you anticipate being the most notable part of the jump in competition? Having played against such high-level competition on the traveling circuits, how has that prepared you? WJ: Some of the arms I have seen and the competition levels that I’ve been a part of have helped to prepare me for this. Seeing guys mid-to-upper 90’s on a daily basis with really good stuff is going to be an adjustment. I’m not going to go and bat four, five, six-hundred all the time, like in high school. The mental side will also be an adjustment. Dealing with more failure, because that’s going to come whether I want it to or not, both those things I’ll need to adjust to and prepare for. TD: Joining the Twins organization and being from the east coast, what does your familiarity with the organization and history of the club look like? WJ: I don’t know too much in general, I’m still learning. Going to Target Field was the first time I’ve ever been to the state of Minnesota. I thought it was gorgeous, the state, the stadium. The people were amazing. I’m continuing to learn about the organization. Obviously I know about different players from being coached by several of them. Guys like Joe Mauer who are going to be Hall of Famers, you just hear about them. TD: Outside of baseball, and just leaving high school, how do you get away from the game or what do you do for fun? WJ: My favorite thing is just hanging out with friends. I enjoy spending quality time with guys. I enjoy hunting and fishing, and enjoy playing other sports as well. Welcome to Twins Territory, Walker!

There was lots of uncertainty about the directions that the Twins would go with the fifth overall pick, with the top three college players and Max Clark off the board. There were rumors that the Twins would go under-slot and try to float some players into the range of their next picks. But when it came time, the Twins took the #4 player on the Consensus Big Board. I was less of a believer as the draft got closer, I'm not going to lie about that. Jenkins always seemed like the Twins type. The pretty swing that's going to lead to both hit and power. The 80-grade make-up the team always raved about with Royce Lewis. The idea that the Twins were so off on Jenkins led me to believe they were maybe just really worried about his hip. But it all turned out to be a false narrative. The Twins got the guy that seems to be a perfect fit. Sure, they missed on the last prep hitter they drafted so high (Keoni Cavaco). Yeah, they don't have a great need for left-handed hitting outfielders. The Twins, though, lack high-end prospects. Brooks Lee is a Top 25 prospect in all of baseball, but I think it's fair to believe we could have expected more. Royce Lewis and Edouard Julien have graduated. Emmanuel Rodriguez was a Top 50 prospect to start the season but has struck out in over 40% of his at-bats and his .764 OPS is only saved because he has drawn 50 walks. Walker Jenkins could be the new #1 prospect. Is definitely not lower than #2 and has significant upside. So what should we expect from Walker Jenkins? I think 2019 Max Kepler or present-day Kyle Tucker. 30 home runs is achievable with a league-average OBP. The ability to steal a dozen bases and be mobile enough with a really good arm in right-field to be considered an above-average defender. Walker Jenkins is reportedly being advised by super-agent Scott Boras. This would have been a cringe-worthy sentence not too long ago, but the organization and Boras have done a lot of business lately. Draft slot is $7,139,700. Jenkins may get every penny of that (or more). I like to believe that the Twins could have convinced Boras that not going #5 meant maybe going #7 (since the A's are a disaster) and could shave some thousands off the slot. But, at the end of the day, Jenkins is going to sign and should hopefully get to Cedar Rapids by the end of the summer and join them for their playoff run. JD Cameron says this about Jenkins, who ranked fourth on the Consensus Big Board: What are your thoughts on the Twins selection of outfielder Walker Jenkins with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft?

Last week, the major-league draft concluded. The Minnesota Twins made 21 draft picks and will have until July 25th to get them signed. That's the first step. Then they can start their careers with the ultimate goal of reaching the big leagues. Of course, not all 21 Twins selections are going to turn into MLB players. But some will. If the Twins get a handful of big leaguers out of this draft, it will be considered a win. If they get an All-Star, even better. So let's break the picks into a few categories. Who were the best picks? Which players provide an upside, but come with risk? Are there players that will provide minor-league depth immediately with the chance to be more? And then there are players that may be hard to sign? What are the factors that play into their decisions? Learn more about the players and what category each fits into below. BEST PICKS: The expectation is that everyone in this group will sign. Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick HS, NC (1) When you can add a Top 25 (or better) global prospect, you do it. Is it the perfect fit? No, there are plenty of corner outfield types in the system. Is he the perfect prospect? No, you can't simply ignore the checkered past concerning his hips. But there's too much to like about Jenkins to get picky. He's got all-star potential in a system that lacks it. I can't wait to watch his professional career get started. Tanner Hall, RHP, Southern Mississippi (4) I'm putting Hall in this group, believing we'll hear that the Twins unlocked a few more MPHs on his fastball during instructional league this fall. He's a back-half/long-reliever right now with a plus changeup and below-average fastball, but the Twins have made hay adding velocity to starters, and when that happens, Hall will start raising eyebrows. RISK/REWARD PICKS: The players in this group could go either way. If they were picked in the top ten rounds, they are almost assuredly going to sign. Outside of that, it becomes a bigger question. In most cases, the player could bet on himself to be a higher draft pick next year (or later) or could take the money now and start developing as a pro. Charlee Soto, RHP, Reborn Christian Academy, FL (1C) Soto is the definition of high-risk/high-reward. You could be looking at the future #1 starter for the Twins.... or someone that fizzles out before reaching AA. Such is the life of drafting prep pitchers. Brandon Winokur , OF, Edison HS, CA (3) Winokur is getting some love as the Twins best pick, and the reason for that is the power profile. There is significant swing-and-miss, so the floor is very low. But if he can fix that - and that's a considerable risk - his ceiling is extremely high. A future outfield with him and Jenkins is a fun dream for later this decade. Ross Dunn, LHP, Arizona State (10) One of the picks I like more the more I dig. Yes, Dunn walked a ton of batter (6.1 BB/9), which won't cut it as a starter. But he's got an outstanding fastball and slider, yet his changeup might be his best pitch. There's a low floor - that's what you get with below-average command - but there's a decent chance that Dunn could be the best college pitcher to come out of this class. Paulshawn Pasqualotto, RHP, Cal (12) He returned in 2023 after missing 2022 with Tommy John surgery. As is typically the case, he didn't fully regain his command after surgery. Pasqualotto has a four-pitch mix, but so much hinges on throwing it over the plate. There are some big "ifs" for Pasqualotto, and a wide variance of outcomes comes with that. Kade Bragg, LHP, Angelo State (17) You're not going to have unreasonable expectations for a 17th-round pick. However, Bragg was a Texas A&M commit before an arm injury in high school. He ended up at Weatherford College, where he struck out nearly 12 batters per nine innings with a sub-3.00 ERA but also walked too many. Bragg transferred to Angelo State, where he threw 104 2/3 innings, struck out 124, and reduced his walk rate to 3.4 per nine. And while pitching wins and losses mean very little, he went 15-1 with four complete games and three shutouts. He was too good for that level, but the jump from Division 2 to professional baseball is enormous. It will be fun to see if the success translates. Hector Gomez, RHP, Hope International (18) An NAIA strike-thrower who struck out 93 while only walking 11 batters in 56 innings. Gomez had a three-game stretch where he pitched 18 innings and struck out 36, walked two, and gave up only one earned run. The two 15-strikeout games were both done on 90 pitches. It's a lottery ticket, and we know how they almost always end up. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. SAFE/DEPTH PICKS: These players should sign. Returning to school - if that's even an option - probably isn't going to help them make a bunch more money. Luke Keaschall, 2B, Arizona State (2) Announced as a second baseman, there may be more in the cards defensively for Keaschall. His bat could play in a corner, and he's athletic enough to play the outfield. He could be a future utility-type player who plays second base and left field and could play third base and center field in a pinch. Dylan Questad, RHP, Waterford HS, WI (5) In a category typically reserved for college players, Questad is getting a nod. The Twins will give him every opportunity to start, but signs point toward the bullpen. And if he's viewed through that lens right now, you're getting a middle-relief floor with the upside of getting a high-leverage stud. There is an upside, still, which makes this one of the more fun picks of the draft. Jay Harry, SS, Penn State (6) He looks like a Sean Johnson special: The grinder, tough to strike out, punches above his weight, not going to hit for power or steal bases, but he will give you solid plate appearances and play good defense. It makes sense that he came in well under slot. Nolan Santos, RHP, Bethune-Cookman (7) A senior-sign who will provide the Twins with money to get other guys done. He could be a solid fastball/slider relief candidate. Jace Stoffal, RHP, Oregon (8) Stoffal spent two years at Oregon and had enough success in his second year to get drafted on Day 2. Another example of a guy who came in under slot to help save money for other picks. Again, it's a likely bullpen profile. Jack Dougherty, RHP, Ole Miss (9) Stuff backed up when he transitioned into a starting role: another prime candidate with a reliever-floor but starter upside with professional development. Ty Langenberg, RHP, Iowa (11) Arguably that cleanest starter profile of the draftees with a fastball, slider, and changeup mix. He struck out enough and didn't walk too many, but his fastball has been too hittable. Xander Hamilton, RHP, Appalachian State (14) After two years of barely pitching at Virginia Tech, Hamilton transferred and had more opportunity and success. He struck out a ton of batters and pitched a gem against then-#8 Coastal Carolina. Minimal risk in drafting a senior in the 14th round, and anything he gives the organization beyond depth is icing on the cake. Spencer Bengard, RHP, Cal Baptist (15) He was better out of the bullpen in 2022 than as a starter in 2023 but he has a durable build that will provide the needed depth in the organization. Anthony Silvas, RHP, Riverside CC (16) He is similar to Hamilton in that he transferred for a better opportunity and, like all these late-round right-handed pitchers, will provide depth. WILL HE SIGN?: If I were in this group, I'd have more reason to go back to school than turn pro. Jeremy Lee, RHP, South Alabama (13) Lee has reportedly already agreed to a deal to join the Twins, which is a win for the organization. Lee was a Freshman All-American in 2021 before elbow issues required a shutdown and a redshirt year. He wasn't as good as a redshirt sophomore and could have returned to school to improve his draft stock and still have the leverage of returning for one more year. Sam Parker, 1B, Kennesaw Mountain HS, GA (19) Legit raw power and is committed to Chipola JC. New draft-and-follow rules will allow the Twins to keep in touch with Parker if they don't sign him before the deadline. They successfully signed Omari Daniel last year with the same strategy. Likely comes down to how much money is left in the bonus pool. Ashton Larson, OF, St. Thomas Aquinas, KS (20) If signed, Larson would fly to the "best pick" category, but the chances are slim. So why waste a pick on someone destined to go to LSU? It's not necessarily that the Twins have a chance to establish a relationship, and you never know. But you take a hard-to-sign guy here as a "just in case." The Twins will manipulate their draft pool to have money to sign guys like Jenkins, Soto, Winokur, and Questad (and possibly others). If something falls through with one of these players, there is still the "banked" money. It goes wasted if you don't have any other guys to sign. In this event, you call up Larson and say, "Hey, I know you plan to go to LSU, but we have a million and a half reasons (or whatever money is left) for you to turn pro." What do you think? Who were you favorites? Or least-favorites?

At a basic level, most people in MLB front offices would likely agree that "Best Player Available" is a proper guiding principle for the amateur draft. It's a smart approach to drafting in any sport, really, but especially one with such lengthy, circuitous, and unpredictable development timelines. With that said, determining the "Best Player Available" is not so straightforward in practice. After a certain early point in the first round, this assessment becomes very subjective, and even at the highest picks, opinions tend to vary wildly about who is better than who. Moreover, you have different organizational metrics and evaluation systems, different priorities, and different strategies in play. The bottom line: looking back at players chosen with the highest-stakes draft picks can tell you a lot about a front office's philosophies. Reviewing how those decisions have panned out can be telling in terms of how effective these philosophies have been, and what lessons might be carried forward. Is the Walker Jenkins selection reflective of an adaptive front office evolving its mentality? Or are they merely following their usual blueprint? Let's run it back to the start and see what patterns or takeaways we can find. Top Twins Draft Picks Under the Falvey/Levine Front Office 2017: Royce Lewis, SS (1st overall) By virtue of joining the reigning worst team in the major leagues, Derek Falvey inherited the No. 1 overall pick in the first draft he would oversee as Chief Baseball Officer. Quite a welcoming gift. The top of the that class was a fascinating one. Sometimes there is a clear-cut No. 1 pick, sometimes there are two or three guys who could reasonably be the choice. In 2017, there were a handful of plausible options. Lewis was among them, but generally considered lower in that mix. Two-way player hysteria was taking over in the face of Shohei Ohtani's looming stateside arrival. There was a pair of talents billed as such at the top of the 2017 draft class: Louisville's Brendan McKay and high school phenom Hunter Greene. To the extent there was a consensus choice for the top pick, it was probably Greene. He would've been an exciting addition as a teenager throwing in triple digits along with that trendy two-way potential. Alas, that also made for a highly experimental path, and a costly one to boot with Greene expected to command a big signing bonus. The Twins opted for Lewis in a move that preserved draft pool funds for a later splash. (They took prep pitcher and LSU commit Blayne Enlow in the third round, and signed him overslot with the leftover budget.) Interestingly, they used their second pick, which was essentially a late first-rounder at No. 35 overall, to select college slugger Brent Rooker – a much "safer" draft pick after dominating higher-level competition at Mississippi State. Takeaways: While the Twins would later develop a reputation for highly preferring college players in the draft under Falvey, the first and most significant draft selection under his regime was a high schooler. Take note of this. They did, however, aim to offset the volatility of a raw prep talent with their first pick by adding a more polished college slugger shortly after. Take note of that also. Six years after being drafted with the No. 1 and 2 overall picks, Greene and Lewis are still working to establish themselves as big-leaguers: Greene has thrown 199 MLB innings, Lewis has accrued a whole 140 plate appearances. This despite the fact that both have mostly delivered on their promise when healthy and on the field. A reminder that with high school prospects – even the small percentage who don't fizzle out – it can take a while. 2018: Trevor Larnach, OF (20th overall) In the second draft under the new regime, Minnesota went back to the Rooker profile with their first pick. Larnach was an established collegiate masher who featured on a star-studded, national champion Oregon State team. There were no illusions about Larnach being a defensive maven or future batting champ. He was drafted for his proven power at the highest amateur level, which theoretically made him a low-risk pick in the second half of the first round. Looking back, that assessment was ... pretty accurate? It's definitely fair to say the 26-year-old Larnach has fulfilled the "high floor" part of his scouting report. He can hit. He has a .292/.379/.463 career slash line in the minors and a respectable career OPS+ of 93 in the majors. Has he hit enough to justify regular MLB playing time at a bat-first position? Not really, as evidenced by his current presence in Triple-A. Then again, neither had Rooker at age 26. Now he's an All-Star at 28. Takeaways: College bats like Larnach might be appealing for their ostensible quicker path to the majors, but it doesn't always work out that way. Rooker took every bit as long as Lewis to find his footing in the majors. Larnach's breakout might still be ahead, five years in. We probably shouldn't be super hasty to give up on Trevor Larnach? 2019: Keoni Cavaco, SS (13th overall) This pick seemingly went against the organization's scruples. Not only was Cavaco an unrefined prep talent out of high school, he was also generally viewed as a reach this high in the first round. (Cavaco ranked 28th on MLB Pipeline's pre-draft board.) The Twins had scouted him heavily and bought into their favorable assessment of his tools and potential. “I think upside is the right word to use here.” scouting director Sean Johnson said at the time. “He’s got electric bat speed. We think he’s going to have home run power. He’s one of the best third basemen I’ve seen in the high school ranks in my time scouting, and most of the guys who saw him -- that’s including guys that’s done it 20-plus years -- so a great defender.” Most great infield defenders don't play third base in high school. Never mind. Like so many other promising high school players who enamor scouts with their conceptual ceiling, Cavaco didn't reach his. In fact, he has never come close. He's had no success in the pros and currently has a .544 OPS at Single-A as a 22-year-old, on the verge of fizzling out of the system. In this draft, as they did two years earlier when they took a high schooler with their top selection, the Twins aimed for some level of assurance in their next two picks, going with college slugger Matt Wallner (39th overall) and college fireballer Matt Canterino (54th overall). Takeaways: Toolsy teenaged high schoolers are risky, especially near the top of the draft – even when they amaze with their tantalizing potential against prep competition. Cavaco is shaping up as a banner example; he might not even make it Double-A. While the Twins were showing a willingness to gamble on prep picks in the draft, they also were noticeably balancing those gambles out with college standouts in the following selections. 2020: Aaron Sabato, 1B (27th overall) The Twins picked near the end of the first round in 2020 due to their 101-win season the prior year. This was a weird draft – because of COVID, it was cut down to five rounds, and teams had relatively little data to evaluate the class. Under the circumstances, Minnesota opted for what they viewed as the safe pick to pan out into something of substance. Like Larnach and Rooker, Sabato was a proven college slugger seemingly poised for a quick path to the majors on the strength of his bat alone. Unfortunately, we've witnessed the downside of a one-dimensional, strikeout-prone slugger who doesn't slug. (Sound familiar?) The Twins liked his offensive profile, in part, because of advanced metrics. (Sound familiar?) "If you look at him analytically, he lined up with some of the guys that went at the very top of the board," said Johnson at the time. While patience and power have kept his numbers afloat, Sabato has never dominated pro pitching as hoped. He owns a .785 OPS through two-and-a-half minor-league seasons, and is currently batting .226 with a 34% K-rate as a 24-year-old at Double-A. Takeaways: Again: there is no such thing as a safe bet in the MLB Draft. Even the apparent sure-thing bat – drafted solely for that purpose, already at the bottom of the defensive spectrum – can fail to figure it out against professional pitching. Probably not a good idea to use a first-rounder on a position player with zero likelihood of offering any defensive value at any point. 2021: Chase Petty, RHP (26th overall) Another division-winning season in 2020 left the Twins drafting late in the first round again. This time, they reversed course dramatically from the prior year's strategy – from collegiate slugger to prep pitcher. High school arms are notoriously the most high-risk proposition for a top draft pick, and it's a profile the Twins have resolutely avoided with their highest picks under Falvey. Petty was a big exception, due in large part to his big fastball. While reaching triple digits as a high schooler might not have been as novel as it was four years earlier when Hunter Greene was doing it, Petty had plenty of steam behind him and flashed impressive stuff during a brief pro debut. That was enough to sell the Cincinnati Reds on him. They flipped Sonny Gray to Minnesota for Petty in a one-for-one swap, securing the Twins a frontline starter who's made a huge impact over two seasons. In many ways, for a team that fancies itself in immediate contention mode, this is the most ideal use of a late-first-round pick you could ask for. Takeaways: Major-league teams like upside. Would the Twins have enticed Cincinnati if they'd instead selected and offered some 22-year-old college pitcher, or run-of-the-mill high school shortstop? Maybe. I kind of doubt it. The allure of age and projection adds a lot of shine to young pitching prospects. Sometimes it's good to sell high on these assets when the shine is still there. Sometimes that comes back to haunt you. While the Twins have certainly gotten back a lot of value on this pick already, it may ultimately be another we look back at with dread. 2022: Brooks Lee, SS (8th overall) I think most Twins officials would agree that, among all draft picks covered on this list, Lee was the least difficult choice. Possessing a top 10 pick for the first time since Falvey took over, the team had eyes on Lee but didn't figure he would fall to them at No. 8. When he did, the decision was a no-brainer. Lee is a pretty prototypical first-round draft pick: standout collegiate shortstop with a chance to stick at the position. This profile offers a nice mix of polish and floor with upside and ceiling. Surprisingly, he was the first (and only) player of this ilk that the Twins have drafted under this front office. In fact, it's the first such player they've drafted since 2011 when they took Levi Michael, who could aptly be described as Brooks Lee Lite. Outside of Lee and Michael, the Twins haven't taken a college infielder in the first round in almost 30 years ago, when they took Todd Walker out of LSU in 1994. Michael was emblematic of the downside in these types; he had already basically reached his ceiling when the Twins drafted him. Walker better represented the upside – a readymade impact player – and he's probably a better comp for Lee, given that he too was taken with the eighth overall pick. Takeaways: Due to preference or circumstance, the Twins have been really averse to drafting college infielders in the first round! In the MLB draft, things fall where they may and sometimes you have to take what you're given. That looks to have worked out well for the Twins last year. As for this year... 2023: Walker Jenkins, OF (5th overall) For months leading up to this year's draft, consensus solidified around five distinct standout talents atop the class. The three college stars were likely to be off the board by the time Minnesota's selection swung around at No. 5, leaving them with the proposition of taking whichever prep outfielder was left, or pivoting to a different strategy. The Twins chose not to get cute. And that shouldn't surprise anyone. As we've seen while going through this review, the idea that Minnesota's current front office heavily favors college players is pretty off-base. They have used all of their highest-stakes picks on high-school players. Jenkins is merely a continuation of that trend. This front office has amassed lefty-hitting outfielders, having added Larnach and Wallner with previous first-rounders. And it's an affinity that predates the current regime. In recent Twins draft history, Jenkins best approximates Alex Kirilloff, who was taken 15th overall in 2016, just before Falvey took over. A good reminder that while Falvey now ultimately calls the shots, scouting director Sean Johnson runs the draft, and he's a carryover from the previous regime. Some old habits die hard. The Twins love drafting high-school outfielders in the first round and frankly it ain't hard to see why. Of the six prep outfielders the Twins have drafted since the turn of the century – Denard Span (2002), Chris Parmelee (2006), Ben Revere (2007), Aaron Hicks (20008), Byron Buxton (2012), and Kirilloff (2016) – all six have reached the major leagues. A six-for-six hit rate. That just doesn't happen in the crapshoot known as the MLB Draft. Jenkins seems to blend the best of many worlds from the history of Twins drafts. He offers the exhilarating upside of an ascendant teenaged talent, in a historically safe profile. And the team didn't go out on a limb one bit to draft him.

"It's been a long wait to be able to acquire and draft a player like Walker (Jenkins). It was a thrilling night, and we're super excited to be able to select him," Twins Director of Scouting Sean Johnson said at the end of a long first day of the draft. The general thought heading into the MLB Draft was that there were five elite talents. At that point, there were still a lot of excellent players, but those five were clearly at the top. Rumors, or even conversations, hinting that the Twins might draft a college bat if only a high school player remained from that top five. The strategy is logical. Pick a guy a few spots above where he would likely be picked and sign him for under the slot value. Then, use the saved money to go well above the slot on a player or two in the second or third rounds. A source I trust told me that was never really considered. Of course, it's always necessary to have contingency plans and think through what could happen. Michael Cuddyer has been very active with USA Baseball since his retirement, giving back to an organization that helped his development as a young player. Cuddyer coached the North Carolina native when he was 15 years old and in years since then. Denny Hocking was the manager of Team USA a year ago and coached Jenkins as well. He tweeted, "Twins got a great one in Walker. The fan base is going to fall in love with him." Doug Mientkiewicz tweeted, "Congrats Twins! You just got an ABSOLUTE STUD! Walker Jenkins is the best kid you will ever be around!! Plays with heart and he gets it! You just got a number one pick overall in any other draft!!" The Twins area scout for North Carolina is Ty Dawson. Of Jenkins, Sean Johnson said, "He's a five-tool player. We love his swing. We think he's got a chance for real power. He's a big kid, but he moves pretty well. He can really throw, and we think that he can really defend. You can't ask for much more than that when you're looking for a high school prospect. He's just a well-rounded player and a phenomenal person off the field. We asked a lot of people, and really no one had anything negative to say about Walker, his personality, his character, and his family. Just a great group of people and an awesome kid." Johnson added, "Just to have the opportunity to select a player like that who can do it all and impact the game on both sides is rare and something our group didn't want to pass up on. Another person who is incredibly impressed after spending time with Walker Jenkins is the Twins second draft pick of the night, Charlee Soto. Both players were participating in a Team USA event. Soto said, "I met him last summer at PDP (Player Development Pipeline). Unfortunately, he got injured there and couldn't finish it. He got injured and went to the hospital, but the next day he was at the field to support us. He was always supportive. He was always a leader. He was always getting us stuff in the dugout. He was a very, very humble kid, and I can't wait to get to work with him because I know we're going to bring a lot to Minnesota." In addition to Jenkins, Soto will have another friend in the Twins organization. He knows 2022 draft pick Omari Daniel. "I talk to him every now and then. He loves the process. He's developing every single day. He's told me a lot. Having someone inside the organization helps me a lot." Several players received invitations to attend the draft in Seattle. Asked why it was important for him to be in Seattle, he noted, "Last year, I played in a high school all-star game, and I actually attended the draft in LA. So, seeing all of those guys walk up on the stage after they got drafted, it just showed me that I want to be there one day. I want to be at the draft in person. I saw all the fans that were there cheering. That's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When I got that email invite, I instantly said 'Yes.'" Charlee Soto stands 6-5. He's already got a big fastball in the mid-90s and has even touched triple-digits. He's worked on a slider and a circle changeup as well. Hocking mentioned to me after Day 1 of the draft was complete that Soto just missed making the National Team last summer. He "didn't feel he threw enough strikes at the time." (Hocking's added comment to me on the Twins first pick, "Walker Jenkins is amazing.”) Johnson said they saw Jenkins a lot in 2022 at events such as the East Coast Pro Challenge, Team USA, etc. "Really sound delivery. He's got three nice pitches now. Obviously, the velocity's there. He's been up to the upper-90s already. He's got a fantastic slider. He's got a really good feel for a changeup, and he throws strikes. Put all those things together, and we think he's got a chance to be a major-league starter. (He's an) awesome kid. (I) Got a chance to spend some time with him at the Combine. He came to a workout we had in Ft. Myers before the Combine. So we've had a lot of different punch points with Charlee. We were super excited that he made it down to our pick, and we're really glad to select him." "I look a lot at Gerrit Cole. Just the way he pitches, the way he does things. I feel like he pitches so calmly, so (passionately). And also, being born in Philly, I looked a lot at Roy Halladay. He was a great arm as well. I was always watching him on YouTube. Anywhere I could, I watched him and learned a lot from those two guys." Born in Philadelphia, the Soto family moved to Kissimmee, Florida, when he was young. He has been to the Twins facilities in Ft. Myers. That's where some of the Team USA trials took place. He said he was impressed by the weight rooms, the facilities, and the cafeteria. He graduated recently from Reborn Christian Academy, and faith is something he says has helped him along the way, particularly in recent days. "Today, I was leaving everything in God's hands because I knew he was going to choose the best route for me, and He did. Being a part of the Twins organization, He put that for me. He was the man in control. I was stressing a little bit, but I wasn't stressing a whole lot because I knew he had big plans for me." A friend of his recently moved to Minnesota. On Saturday, he sent Soto a photo of him in a boat in the middle of the lake and asked him when he was going to join him. "I think it was a sign that I just didn't see." The Twins area scout for central Florida is Brett Dowdy. He and other Twins evaluators saw a lot of Soto over the past couple of years, but he took significant steps forward this spring. Johnson noted, "Early in the spring, our guys were buzzing about how good he was and just how much they loved his pitches, his mound presence, and his ability to manage the game. That was all really positive signals for a group. He was a guy we kind of had circled with our second pick. We didn't know if he would make it, obviously, but we were certainly hopeful going into the night." After drafting two high-ceiling high school players with their first two picks, the Twins went to the college ranks for their second-round pick. Luke Keaschall was the 49th overall pick. He spent two seasons at the University of San Francisco, hitting over .300 in both years and developing his game. He then transferred to Arizona State this past year. In 55 games, he hit .353/.443/.725 (1.168) with 25 doubles and 18 home runs. He also was 18-for-20 in stolen base attempts. Johnson on Keaschall "A wrestling background in high school. A guy who did really well at the University of San Francisco, and then we got to see him a lot more this spring at Arizona State. We were really drawn to him. He's just a dynamic athlete. I think he's got a chance to play a lot of different positions. Offensively, he controls the strike zone. I think he had 18 home runs this spring. He takes good at-bats and has a chance to play all over the diamond. We'll figure out where he fits in eventually. And a terrific kid. One of our favorites that we connected with at the Combine. We think the makeup is a separator. It's special, which is rare. Most guys are more in the middle. We really fell in love with Luke." The "Four Corners" area scout for the Twins is Chandler Wagoner. Arguably, the night's best moment came after the Twins third pick. Television cameras finally showed the Twins draft room. In it, there was a jersey with the name Radcliff on it. All of the scouts were wearing a white visor, just like the one Mike Radcliff wore to ballparks all over the country, all over the globe. It was a really nice, emotional moment and was important to many in the organization. Johnson said they were hoping it would happen earlier in the night, but they were thrilled it happened. "We wanted to have the jersey in the shot, and we all came up with the idea. It was for our scouting brethren. The scouts that knew Mike well, they always saw him in a visor. That was his look pretty much every game he went to. That was our way of paying tribute to him so that other people in the industry would understand right away. We finally got the shot. It was a beautiful moment." Johnson tried to recall his thoughts on Jenkins and the other picks. "The last time we saw him together was at the Perfect Game All-American Game in Phoenix in late August. That's when he put the highest 'follow' he could on Walker. I remember reading that report when it came in. Maybe this is Mike saying this is who he wants if he's not here when the draft gets here. He was a big Walker Jenkins fan; I'll say that. And he saw Charlee Soto as well. He was right in line with how we thought about him. He thought he was a first-day talent. I know he's smiling. We thought about him a lot after we took Walker Jenkins." The scouts headed to their hotel rooms after the draft was complete. Hopefully, they can all get some good rest. But more work will be done on Monday afternoon when the draft resumes. Starting at 1:00 central time, teams will make their Rounds 3 through 10 picks. "We'll resume in the morning before we get going. We'll just kind of stare at the board and kind of map out a plan for the next few rounds. (Day 2) is seemingly always the most hectic day because you're constantly pivoting, as your board falls apart, to different scenarios and ideas. Signabilities change overnight and into tomorrow. We collect as much information as we can on where agents are with players and how to proceed after that. We'll get going a few hours before the draft starts and try to prepare as best we can." There is reason for excitement about the Twins first day of the draft. All three players are exciting, as you would hope from Top 50 picks. Be sure to stop by Twins Daily all afternoon to find out who the next seven players will become members of the Twins organization. Discuss in the comments below what you think of the Twins choices, what you might have done differently and more.