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The Saints won on a wild comeback thanks to Mikey Perez. Seth Gray and Jermaine Palacios each had huge days. Jaylen Nowlin continued to strike out the world. Read about all of this and more in Wednesday’s minor league report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins designated RHP Joe Smith for assignment The Twins activated C Sandy Leon The Twins activated LHP Caleb Thielbar from the 15-day IL The Twins optioned C Caleb Hamilton to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 9, Omaha 7 Box Score The Saints won in a thrilling, come-from-behind victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Wednesday. Mikey Perez, who had never had a professional at-bat above Low-A, was called on to pinch hit for David Banuelos in the top of the ninth with two runners on, two outs, down by one run. On a 1-2 count, Perez hammered a hanging slider over the left field wall to put the Saints up 9-7, a lead that they would hold on to for the win Michael Helman hit a lead-off homer, his ninth bomb of the year. Jermaine Palacios followed him with a double and then Matt Wallner drove in Palacios with a single to give the Saints a quick 2-0 lead. Omaha responded quickly with seven runs in 2 2/3 innings off of St. Paul starter Mario Sanchez, knocking him out in what was his worst start of the year. Curtis Terry hammered his tenth homer of the year in the top of the fourth to chip into Omaha’s lead, decreasing the deficit to four. In the fifth, Palacios hit another double and scored on an error by Omaha’s first baseman to cut the lead to three. The Saints wouldn’t have been able to stay in the game without an outstanding performance from the bullpen. The bullpen threw 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while striking out six. Daniel Gossett threw 2 1/3 innings, Austin Schulfer followed him with two strong innings, Brad Peacock threw an inning, and Michael Feliz locked down the game with a scoreless ninth. Going into the top of the ninth, the Saints trailed 7-4 and were facing Andres Nunez, who had only allowed one run in his last 22 appearances. Wallner and Roy Morales led off the inning with back-to-back singles and John Andreoli followed suit with a single of his own to score Wallner. After Andreoli stole a base, Braden Bishop hit an RBI infield single to put the game to 7-6. Then Mikey Perez did the inevitable in his first Triple-A at-bat. Peacock picked up the win for St. Paul, his third of the year. Feliz was credited with the save, his first since 2019. Palacios went 3-for-4 with three doubles to lead the offense. Helman, Wallner, Morales, and Bishop all had two-hit nights as well. The win was the Saints' fourth consecutive and it improved their record to 49-50. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 0, San Antonio 8 Box Score Wichita got off to a slow start on Wednesday against San Antonio and could never quite recover, falling 8-0 to the San Antonio Missions. Southpaw Kody Funderburk took the ball for Wichita and had a rough outing. Like Sanchez for St. Paul, he went 2 2/3 innings. Funderburk allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out one batter. The game was knotted at zero going into the bottom of the third, but San Antonio made a statement by scoring four runs on five hits and a walk. The big inning was also aided by a throwing error from Wind Surge left fielder Anthony Prato. The Missions added two more runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to push the lead to eight. Wichita’s bullpen pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (two earned). Cody Laweryson, Alex Phillips, and Francis Peguero all threw in relief. Peguero threw a scoreless eighth. It was a lackluster offensive performance for Wichita, only collecting five hits in the loss and striking out 13 times. Despite the loss, Wichita remains in first place at 51-46. They will turn to their best pitcher, Louie Varland, on Thursday. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 9 Box Score One day after losing Cade Povich via trade, the Kernels suffered a 9-5 loss to the Beloit Sky Carp. Burnsville, MN, native Aaron Rozek made his 15th start of the year for the Kernels. The Twins Daily June Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month did not have his best stuff on Wednesday. Rozek only managed to go two innings in his shortest start of the year, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out two. Beloit got all three runs off of Rozek in the top of the second thanks to a three-run homer by Marcus Chiu. Cedar Rapids responded in the bottom half when Seth Gray singled, scoring Jake Rucker. First out of the bullpen for Cedar Rapids was Tyler Palm. Palm gave Cedar Rapids three innings while allowing three runs (two earned). Palm walked in a run in the top of the third to give the Sky Carp a three-run lead. In the bottom of the third, Yunior Severino hit an RBI double to close the gap back to two. In the middle innings, Beloit scored four unanswered runs off of Palm and Miguel Rodriguez to push the score to 8-2. In the bottom of the seventh, Gray put Cedar Rapids within three runs when he hit a three-run double. Hunter McMahon pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief, only allowing one unearned run while his season ERA fell to 0.84. The Kernels couldn’t get anything else going offensively as they fell 9-5 to Beloit. Their season record fell to 59-39 with the loss. Gray finished 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI to lead the offense. Severino went 2-for-4 as he continued his hot season. He now sports a .970 OPS, which is fourth among players in the Midwest League with at least 100 at-bats. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 2 Box Score Jaylen Nowlin turned in another great start to lead Fort Myers in a victory over Bradenton. Nowlin allowed one run on two hits over four innings while striking out eight. Nowlin now has 81 strikeouts in 50 innings this year. Fort Myers got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the second when Daniel Ozoria scored on a wild pitch and Nelson Roberto hit an RBI double to drive in Luis Baez. After Bradenton cut the lead in half in the top of the third, Dillon Tatum drove in Keoni Cavaco with a single to increase the lead back to two. In the sixth, Juan Jerez hit a homer off of Regi Grace to cut Fort Myers lead back to one. Bradenton could never quite make it back, as Juan Mendez thwarted the comeback in the top of the seventh with two strikeouts for his third save of the year. The win improved Fort Myers record to 54-40. Regi Grace picked up the win in relief of Nowlin, and Ozoria stole two bases in the win. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez (St. Paul) - 1-for-1, HR (1), R, 3 RBI 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: #12 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K #15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2 THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-4, 10.38 ERA) Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 CST) - RHP Louie Varland (7-4, 3.55 ERA) Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Orlando Rodriguez (3-1, 3.34 ERA) Fort Myers @ Bradenton (6:00 PM CST) - LHP Jordan Carr (3-0, 3.86 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Starters and hitters often get the glory, but there’s been plenty of solid relief performances on the farm over the past month as well. Given a constant need for pitching help, any of these performances could translate to future opportunity. Honorable Mention Wladimir Pinto (St. Paul Saints) 6 G, 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.88 WHIP Drew Strotman (St. Paul Saints) 6 G, 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K, 1.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP Andrew Cabezas (Wichita) 8 G, 10.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 9 K, 0.87 ERA, 0.79 WHIP Jackson Hicks (Fort Myers) 8 G, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 14 K, 1.59 ERA, 0.90 WHIP Number Three: Matt Mullenbach (Cedar Rapids) 6 G, 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.98 WHIP Mullenbach was transferred back to High-A Cedar Rapids at the beginning of July after spending most of May and all of June down in Fort Myers. He worked as a late-inning reliever for the Kernels and proved to be a useful arm at the back end of the bullpen. Old for the level at 25, Mullenbach could push for a move to Double-A if he replicates this month through August. Mullenbach was originally in the Mets system back in 2019 and joined the Minnesota organization last year. He did have a Triple-A appearance in 2021, and while these types of minor league adds generally wind up being organizational depth, there’s no reason why noteworthy outliers can’t exist. Number Two: Cody Laweryson (Wichita) 7 G, 16.1 IP, 13 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 15 K, 0.55 ERA, 1.10 WHIP Maybe a bit unfair in racking up additional innings, Laweryson did make a spot start this month for the Wind Surge. Even with the additional opportunity, he continued a very solid year. Working almost exclusively as a reliever now, Laweryson has taken a sizeable step forward from where he was in 2021. The strikeouts continue to come in bunches and he does a good job limiting walks. Minnesota selected Lawyerson in the 14th round of the 2019 draft from the University of Maine. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League for Minnesota last season and the additional challenge against heightened competition seems to have served him well. Just 23 years old, Minnesota has to be happy with how the start of his pro career has gone. Number One: Hunter McMahon (Cedar Rapids) 8 G, 14.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K, 0.64 ERA, 0.50 WHIP McMahon was promoted from Low-A Fort Myers to High-A Cedar Rapids at the end of June. He responded by being lights out and finishing four games for the Kernels. Having collected six saves this season between the two levels, McMahon has shown an ability to work late in games and get big outs. His 9.3 K/9 this season is a bit lower than 2021, but he’s continued to issue virtually no free passes. The Washington Nationals took McMahon in the 9th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. Now 24, McMahon joined the Twins organization in 2021 when they traded reliever Ryne Harper. He was little more than a lottery ticket, but pitching like this could certainly give him future promise for a pitcher they were going to instead lose for nothing. Congratulations to each of these relievers on a fantastic month! View full article

For the second time this season, the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels have thrown a no-hitter. The pitching and fielding were masterful, and they used a big inning to gain an ‘easy’ win. Nothing has been easy for the Saints of late, and Tuesday might have been one of their stranger games of the season. All this and much more in today’s Minor League Report. Of course, the big news has to be that the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels, coming home after a 5-1 road trip, got a combined no-hitter on Tuesday night. It is their second no-no of the season, and their third since last September. The Saints roster has been decimated by the Twins injuries and Covid situations (IL spots and upcoming Toronto series) that it has hurt the Saints roster immensely. They get it. Their job is to play players and have them ready when needed, but Tuesday was beyond that. The Saints started four catchers in the game, and ultimately, two of them played positions that they haven’t played before. When one of them was drilled by a line drive in foul territory, the team lost the DH and four pitchers came to the plate. Oh, by the way, the Saints won by 10 runs! Wichita’s game was suspended in the second inning. Cedar Rapids played a morning game in Lansing, and they may wish it had been rained out. But, Anthony Prato just keeps getting the job done. Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS With Carlos Correa placed on the Covid-IL, the Twins selected the contract of infielder Jermaine Palacios. RHP Jorge Alcala was set to begin a rehab assignment with the Mighty Mussels on Tuesday, but with a long rain delay, they pushed it back a day. IF/OF Michael Helman was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul Cole Sands was the Twins' 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader. He started Game 2 and was returned to the Saints. IF Tim Beckham was activated by the Saints, good news after watching him limp off the field on Sunday. The Twins acquired OF John Andreoli from the Phillies in a trade. Andreoli is a veteran with time in the big leagues with three organizations including the Padres in 2021. He played for the Rochester Red Wings in 2019's second half. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 13, Iowa 3 Box Score Jermaine Palacios was called up to the Twins. Alex Kirilloff, Mark Contreras, and Yennier Cano are traveling with the Twins as part of their ‘taxi squad.’ That put Toby Gardenhire in a tough position while trying to figure out a lineup for Tuesday night in Iowa. As the Saints Twitter pointed out, they started four catchers at various positions. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Caleb Hamilton started at third base. Roy Morales started in left field. David Banuelos started out as the DH but moved to second base. And, Jose Godoy was actually behind the plate. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Hamilton left the game and the Saints lost their DH. Dereck Rodriguez pinch ran and got one at-bat. JC Ramirez, Tyler Viza, and Austin Schulfer each got an at-bat too. Spencer Steer went 3-for-5 with a walk and two doubles and three RBI. Jake Cave went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI. More catchers… David Banuelos went 2-for-3 with two walks and a two-run homer, and Jose Godoy added a three run homer. Jordan Balazovic started and was charged with three runs (2 earned) on five hits (including two homers) in 3 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five batters. JC Ramirez threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Tyler Viza, Jharel Cotton, and Ian Hamilton each pitched a scoreless innings to close out the game. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita, Frisco (Suspended in the 2nd inning due to weather) data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== The Wind Surge returned from Corpus Christi to start a series against Frisco. Well, the series started, but in the second inning, the game was suspended by weather. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Lansing 6 Box Score In the third inning, Anthony Prato hit his seventh home run of the season to give the Kernels the first lead of the game, 1-0. From there on, however, it was all Lugnuts! Cade Povich made the start. He was charged with two runs on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six batters. Derek Molina came on and allowed both of Povich’s runs to score, plus two of his own before getting out of the fifth. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. Tyler Palm worked the final two innings. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. The Kernels had just four hits, and the Prato homer was the long extra base hit. The team actually struck out 15 times in the game. Alerick Soularie went 1-for-2 with two walks. Kyler Fedko also walked twice. In his first plate appearance, Aaron Sabato was hit on the arm with a pitch and removed for precautionary reasons. He should return to the line up in the next day or two. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Tampa 0 Box Score If you’re wanting to beat the Yankees… Low-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons, the best way to do that might be to not allow any runs. The Mighty Mussels did one better on Tuesday night. They didn’t give up a hit either! After a 2-hour and 16-minute rain delay, it was determined that the teams would play a seven-inning game. Mike Paredes made the start. He went the first six innings. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and struck out five batters. Hunter McMahon pitched the seventh inning and struck out three batters to give the Mussels the second no-hitter of their season already. It is also the third no-hitter for Ft. Myers in less than nine months. Paredes, the team’s 18th round pick in 2021 out of San Diego State started the season in the Mussels bullpen. This was just his fifth start of the season. He hit career-highs in innings (6) and pitches (69). Paredes noted following the game, “I was just mixing pitches pretty well with (Dillon) Tatum behind the dish, putting down the right fingers at the right times and keeping them off balance.” McMahon got the final outs of the Mussels no-hitter earlier this season, and did so again on this night. He walked the first batter he faced, but then followed by striking out the next three batters. And Dillon Tatum has been the catcher in both games, which absolutely needs to be noted. Following the game, the backstop said, “We’ve been trying to get our guys to be aggressive in the zone with all of their stuff. Mike and Hunter both did a really good job of all of that. They have some good pop in the middle of the order. Hats off to them.” Pitching coach and former big-leaguers Carlos Hernandez is the one (along with manager Brian Meyer) who was there for all three no-hitters. After Tuesday’s game, he said, “We are always trying to push guys to attack the strike zone,” pitching coach Carlos Hernandez said. “It’s always fun to watch them do their thing. We are here to guide them, but at the end of the day, it’s them making their own decisions out there.” Paredes wanted to get the seventh inning, but as pitching coach Jared Gaynor said, “At this level, we’re about developing them to become big-league pitchers. It’s not worth pushing their pitch counts for the sake of throwing a no-hitter in Low-A,” He continued, “Our goal is for these guys to move up. We’re always worrying about their workload and where they’re building up. I know it’s tough to take a guy out with a no-hitter at 69 pitches, but with where he’s at at this stage of the season, it was the right time to take him out.” Oh, that’s right, the Mussels used hitters in this game too, and those hitters provided some run support to the tune of five runs. All five runs came in the fifth inning. Jake Rucker started things out with his eighth double which drove in Tatum and Dylan Neuse. Emmanuel Rodriguez followed with his fifth double which drove in Rucker. And Noah Cardenas followed with his fourth double which scored Rodriguez. Cardenas scored later on a wild pitch. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Mike Paredes (Ft. Myers) - 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 3-5, BB, 2-2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K PROSPECT SUMMARY Shhhh… don’t tell anyone… you get a sneak peek… It’s June 1st, so today the Twins Daily Prospect Report is changing today. Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Tuesday. Of note, Joe Ryan, Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran - All Top 10 Prospects in May - are no longer deemed “prospects” as they have passed those thresholds. #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-1 (played SS) - Game Suspended in 2nd) #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - Game 2: 0-for-3 #4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (87 pitches, 53 strikes) #5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (24 pitches, 11 strikes - Game Suspended in 2nd) #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 3-5, BB, 2-2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K (played 2B/SS) #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-1, 2 BB, 2B(6), R, RBI #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, K #11 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (84 pitches, 45 strikes) #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-1 - Game suspended in 2nd) #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-1 - Game suspended in 2nd) #17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (91 pitches, 54 strikes) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (12:08 PM CST) - RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-2, 3.44 ERA) Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-0, 7.59 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (3-2, 2.15 ERA) Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - LHP Steve Hajjar (2-1, 2.17 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article