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Let's take a look at the Mighty Mussels Opening Day roster. Coaching Staff Brian Meyer is back for his third season as the Mighty Mussels manager, his fourth in the organization. Pitching Coach Richard Salazar moves from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers this season after spending the past two years with the Kernels. Jared Gaynor will enter his second season as a Mighty Mussels pitching coach. Rayden Sierra returns to the Mighty Mussels as their hitting coach again. Luis Reyes was a coach in the FCL a year ago and he is now the Assistant Hitting Coach in Ft. Myers. Starting Pitchers: Tomas Cleto, Cory Lewis, Andrew Morris, Juan (Miguel) Olivares, Zebby Matthews. Andrew Morris was the Twins fourth-round pick from Texas Tech a year ago and made an appearance for the Mighty Mussels in the playoffs last year. Cory Lewis was their ninth round pick out of UC-Santa Barbara in 2022. Zebby Matthews is a hard throwing righty taking the eighth round last year out of Western Carolina University. Tomas Cleto pitched well in the FCL last season and earned a late-season promotion to the Mussels. Juan Olivares was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year last year when he, going by Miguel last year, posted a 144 ERA in the DSL. Relief Pitchers: Johnathan Lavallee, Develson Aria, Ben Ethridge, C.J. Culpepper, A.J. Labas, Juan Mendez, Samuel Perez, Jackson Hicks, Wilker Reyes, Zach Veen, Gabriel Yanez Ben Ethridge was the Twins 15th round pick a year ago from Southern Miss. CJ Culpepper was their 13th rounder out of California Baptist. Zach Veen was their 18th round pick in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Lavallee was their 16th round pick in 2021 out of Long Beach State. Hicks signed late in the 2021 season out of the USPBL in Michigan. That is about the time they signed AJ Labas who had gone undrafted out of LSU. Sam Perez was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year in 2021 and spent most of the 2022 season with Ft. Myers. Gabriel Yanez signed with the Phillies in 2016 and reached Low-A Clearwater in 2022. The Twins signed him this offseason as a free agent. Last year in this league, he had 58 strikeouts and just 13 walks over 50 1/3 innings. One to watch is hard-throwing Juan Mendez. And lefty Develson Aria is intriguing as well. Catchers: Andrew Cossetti, Ricardo Olivar, Dillon Tatum Andrew Cossetti was drafted in the 11th round last year out of St. Joseph’s in Philly. Tatum caught two Mussels no hitters last year. Olivar had a breakout season in the FCL last year, hitting .349/.442/.605 (1.046) with 12 doubles, three triples and five homers over 40 games. A good athlete, he actually spent more time in the outfield in 2022. Infielders: Rubel Cespedes, Danny De Andrade, Yohander Martinez, Jorel Ortega, Mikey Perez, Dalton Shuffield. Danny De Andrade is the top prospect in this group. One of the top international signings in 2021, he held his own in the FCL a year ago. Jorel Ortega was the team’s sixth round pick a year ago. He had one at bat with the Mussels and had an RBI hit, but he hurt his wrist on the play which ended his season. Cespedes is an intriguing prospect who has some offensive upside. Martinez was a minor-league Rule 5 pick in December. And why Mikey Perez and Dalton Shuffield are starting in Ft. Myers is just silly. Perez was the 15th round pick of the Twins in 2021 from UCLA. He played 81 games in Ft. Myers a year ago, then moved up to Cedar Rapids for 28 more games. He even played one game with the Saints and hit a game-winning, three-run homer in his lone at-bat. He led the organization with 48 stolen bases last year. And, for good measure, he played in nine spring games for the Twins this year and went 4-for-10. Shuffield spent five years at Texas State University before the Twins took him in the 10th round of the 2022 draft. After three games in the FCL last year, he moved up to Cedar Rapids for eight games. Then he moved up to Triple-A St. Paul and started almost every day for 14 games. He hit .271/.314/.542 (.855) with three doubles, two triples, and two home runs. All that is small sample size, but he just turned 24. Outfielders: Carlos Aguiar, Luis Baez, Maddux Houghton, Alec Sayre, Dylan Neuse. Carlos Aguiar and Luis Baez signed with the Twins in 2017 from Venezuela. Aguiar is a big, strong power hitting outfielder. Baez is a speed merchant, capable of stealing a ton of bags and taking extra bases at will. Houghton signed with the Twins just before spring training began. He spent five years at Lipscomb and then last year played in a summer wood bat league. Alec Sayre was the Twins 17th round pick a year ago out of Wright State. Neuse was the Twins 17th round pick in 2021 out of Texas Tech. His older brother Sheldon spent parts of 2019, 2021 and 2022 in the big leagues. He played in 89 games last year for the A’s. This year, he is playing in for Hanshin, in Japan. TWINS DAILY TOP 20 PROSPECTS None. Danny De Andrade is likely the highest-ranking prospect by most systems. There are definitely some pitching prospects to watch on this list. What do you think of the Mighty Mussels roster? Which players are you most intrigued by and interested in following?

Noah Cardenas was born and grew up in Southern California. He’s a Twins fan now, but it is understandable that he grew up a Dodgers fan and went to several games at the stadium. He enjoyed watching Yasiel Puig play the game. While he played some football until junior high, some basketball, and even some soccer. It was on the baseball field that he excelled. He attended Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills in one of the best prep baseball leagues in the country. In the Mission League, they played against teams like Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake (where Lucas Giolito, Max Fried, and Jack Flaherty played). Notre Dame had Hunter Greene pitching and playing shortstop. There are first-round talents in the conference nearly every year. While there, he was a four-year letter winner. As a junior, he was an honorable-mention All-American. In the summers, he was playing in various national and regional events, such as Perfect Game and the Area Code Games. He was one of the top prospects in his class in California. As a senior, he hit .444/.577/.694 with 15 extra-base hits. He committed to UCLA and was very excited to go there. Cardenas said, “I love UCLA. I think it’s an amazing university. Obviously a diehard Bruin fan now. I grew up a USC fan during the Reggie Bush Era. My brother poisoned me into that thing. I grew up a USC fan, but I was lucky enough for UCLA to recruit me.” In the summer before his freshman year, he played for Portland in the West Coast League and hit .287 with six extra-base hits in 30 games. Cardenas had an incredible freshman season. In 58 games, he hit .375/.476/.500 (.976) with six doubles, a triple, and three homers. He had 17 walks (and was hit 10 times) to go with just 14 strikeouts. He was also an Honorable Mention All-Defensive Team in the Pac-12 that year too. That summer he was scheduled to go play for the Mankato Moondogs of the Northwoods League. Last minute, his coach let him know that he was heading to the Cape Cod League. As a sophomore, he played in just 11 games before Covid hit and ended that season. He did play some summer ball. He has a brother that is a trainer in the Texas Rangers organization, and he helped him out during that lost season. They developed a training schedule for him that included all aspects of the game. In his junior season (2021), he played in 57 games and hit .268/.371/.404 (.774) with 12 doubles, a triple, and five home runs. Behind the plate, he threw out 38% of would-be base stealers. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team. With that success, he became the Twins eighth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Cardenas noted, “You just sit there and wait. It was an awesome time. I really enjoyed it, but that time just sitting on your couch, I just want to go already. I just want to get picked. Finally, that time came, and it was the right time, and I was lucky enough to get drafted by the Twins.” Seven rounds later, the Twins also selected his UCLA teammate Mikey Perez. “Going to UCLA, we always stayed together in the same apartment. He’s been trying to get away from me for years now, and it’s funny that we were drafted by the same team.” He continued, “Mikey’s just been a great friend to have, and the transition to pro ball has been awesome.” After signing, Cardenas got into 13 games late in the year in the FCL. He hit .300/.400/.500 (.900) with a double and a homer in his 25 plate appearances. He got an offseason to work, and he came into the 2022 season ready to go. He remained in Ft. Myers and spent the season with the Mighty Mussels. In 99 games, he hit .261/.421/.413 (.834) with 18 doubles and nine home runs. He even stole 11 bases. You also can’t help but notice his Isolated Discipline (OBP - BA) of .160. He had 73 walks on the season with just 70 strikeouts. He credits Ft. Myers hitting coach Rayden Sierra with helping him focus on knowing the strike zone, but also knowing which pitches he can do damage in the zone. He came in fourth place in voting for the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year Award behind only Matt Wallner, Edouard Julien, and Chris Williams. He played 25 games at first base, but he made 56 starts behind the plate. He threw out 29% of potential base stealers. All that, and he earned the Mighty Mussels’ Harmon Killebrew Award for Community Service for all of the work he did away from the field, time with kids, and visiting hospitals and more. Hear more about: Learning how the Twins used technology and analytics, and how it can help him. Both of his parents speak Spanish, but he acknowledges that he “can’t speak a lick of it.” So, adjusting to conversations with Spanish-speaking pitchers and teammates. What he enjoys about catching and what he has done to learn more behind the plate. “I was really excited to get a guy like Tucker Frawley who is the catching guy… I felt what he was teaching us was really good stuff.” His thoughts on the electronic strike zone, and the review process that was used at times in the Florida State League. Working with rehabbing big leaguers such as Sonny Gray in Ft. Myers. For more Twins Daily content on Noah Cardenas, click here.

In 2022, the Minnesota Twins went 38-for-55 in stolen base attempts. Those numbers are, by far, the lowest in Major League Baseball. In the AL Central, the Tigers had 47 steals, the third-lowest in MLB, but they were caught 24 times. The White Sox ranked 24th with 58 steals, but they were only caught 10 times. On the other side of the spectrum, the Cleveland Guardians ranked third in baseball with 119 steals, and the Kansas City Royals tied for sixth with 104 steals. The question now becomes, how will the new rules – specifically the larger bases – alter how the Twins manage the running game, if at all? Will the team suddenly start attempting a lot of stolen bases? Could they steal more, but remain behind other organizations that already incorporated a running game into their strategy? There are several reasons that the Twins don’t run a lot. First and foremost, their 2022 roster did not include much speed or certainly many base stealers. While Byron Buxton and Nick Gordon have tremendous speed, they also don’t run a lot. The two were tied for the team lead with... six stolen bases. The idea is that they can score from first base on a double, so why risk getting thrown out on a stolen base attempt? Buxton has stolen bases at a high percentage over his career. However, with his leg issues in 2022, it made little sense for him to run. And now, with his recent arthroscopic knee surgery, it’s hard to imagine that he will do a ton of running moving forward. What happened in the Twins minor leagues, where the larger bases have already been utilized? Here is a quick look at where the Twins affiliate ranks relative to their minor-league level: Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels - 179 SB, 67 CS (Ranked 13th of 30 teams) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels - 143 SB, 44 CS (Ranked 15th of 30 teams) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge - 170 SB, 50 CS (Ranked 7th of 30 teams) Triple-A: St. Paul Saints - 136 SB, 29 CS. (Ranked 15th of 30 teams) MLB: Minnesota Twins - 38 SB, 17 CS. (Ranked 30th of 30 teams) So as you can see, the Twins affiliates all attempted a lot of stolen bases throughout the year. So was that just a player or two on each affiliate that accounted for a big chunk of his team’s steals? Let’s take a look at the organizational leaders in stolen bases, noting which leagues they played in during the course of the year. Mikey Perez 48/55 (Ft. Myers, St. Paul, Cedar Rapids) DaShawn Keirsey 42/49 (Wichita) Michael Helman 40/45 (Wichita, St. Paul) Austin Martin 35/41 (Wichita) Will Holland 32/38 (Cedar Rapids, Wichita) Yasser Mercedes 30/35 (DSL Twins) Mark Contreras 23/25 (St. Paul) Noah Miller 23/30 (Ft. Myers) Anthony Prato 22/28 (Cedar Rapids, Wichita) Luis Baez 20/23 (Ft. Myers) Daniel Ozoria 20/25 (all over) Edouard Julien 19/26 (Wichita) Jake Rucker 19/31 (Ft. Myers, Cedar Rapids, St. Paul) Alerick Soularie 18/23 (Cedar Rapids) Willie Joe Garry 17/21 (Cedar Rapids) It is noteworthy that three individuals stole 40 or more bases. Three others had 30 or more, including Yasser Mercedes who stole 30 bags in just 41 games in the Dominican Summer League. A total of 11 players had 20 or more steals on the season. Whether it was simply situational or if it was an intentional effort to better understand the effect of larger bases, the Twins had a lot of players running often in the minors. It certainly appears that organizationally the Twins aren’t against stealing bases. It’s really just clear that the big-league club was made up of players that didn’t really work to be a running team. Over time, as the composition of the roster changes, they certainly could run more. As a rookie in 2003, Rocco Baldelli stole 27 bases and was caught ten times. The following year, he went 17-for-21 in stolen base attempts. Jon Berti of the Marlins led baseball with 41 stolen bases. Jorge Mateo led the American League with 35 steals, one more than his Orioles teammate Cedric Mullins. Trea Turner stole 27 bases for the Dodgers this year, the most by an impending free agent. On the other side, Twins catchers did not have a very good year in terms of throwing out would-be base stealers. The Twins allowed 92 stolen bases and threw out just 23 runners. Their 20% caught stealing was tied for 26th in the league. That certainly is not a good number, but it is important to note that the league average was just 25% Did teams run against the Twins more than average? Technically, yes. There were 115 stolen base attempts against the Twins in 2022. The average was 110, so negligible. As the Twins look for a catcher, the ability to throw out base stealers should be one consideration, but it shouldn’t be among the top considerations. It can be worked on, to some degree (footwork, transition, release time, pop times), but it is just as important, and I might argue more important, for the Twins to have their pitchers focus a little bit more on trying to give their catchers a chance (change pitch timing, slide steps, etc.). Of those 92 stolen bases, how many times were we able to say “The catcher didn’t have a chance.” So as the offseason approaches, how do you think that the larger bases will factor into decisions? Will the team add some speed to the roster in an attempt to steal more bases? As they look for a #2 catcher, how important will (or should) their ability to throw out would-be base stealers? Share your thoughts below, and make sure to check out our Offseason Handbook content to identify targets who could improve the team's overall speed and base-stealing proficiency.

TRANSACTIONS Recently signed non-drafted free agent LHP Michael Boyle was assigned to Ft. Myers. So was MLB veteran RHP Brock Stewart who has worked his way back to affiliated ball after recovering from injuries the past few seasons? SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 6, St. Paul 5 Box score Ronny Henriquez has been coming out of the bullpen for the Saints the past couple of months, generally still working multiple innings situations. He returned to the starting rotation this week and put together arguably his best start of the season. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits over five innings. He struck out six batters, and maybe most important for his development, he walked none. The bullpen came on and had some moments. Juan Minaya recorded the first two outs in the sixth inning. But, he gave up one run on two walks. Austin Schulfer came on and got the final out of that inning. Jharel Cotton gave up a run on one hit and one walk in the seventh inning. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Saints held a 5-3 lead. Jovani Moran came on and struck out two in the eighth inning. Unfortunately, he gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, and a hit batter to blow the save and take the loss. The outing bumps his Saints season ERA up to 6.00. Just 15 of his 31 pitches were strikes. There are openings in the Twins bullpen, and he certainly isn’t putting up the Triple-A numbers to force the Twins’ hand. Matt Wallner went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth double since joining the Saints. Jermaine Palacios went 2-for-5. Nash Knight went 2-for-4. WIND SURGE WISDOM Frisco 2, Wichita 1 Box Score Lefty Kody Funderburk gave up two runs in the third inning, and that was it for the Frisco run-scoring on this night. Unfortunately, it was one run more than the Wind Surge were able to muster. Funderburk gave up those two runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out four. The bullpen followed with four scoreless, hitless innings. Denny Bentley walked one and struck one out over two innings. Alex Phillips and Steven Cruz each worked one inning. Cruz struck out two batters. The Wind Surge batters had twice as many hits as Frisco, but just half as many runs. Wichita had four hits, but the lone run came in the top of the seventh inning in the form of Jair Camargo’s eighth Double-A home run. Austin Martin found three different ways to get on base. He was hit by a pitch, walked, and had a single. He also stole his 31st bag. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County 1, Cedar Rapids 5 Box Score Cedar Rapids got some great pitching and kept the offense rolling, scoring their five runs in four different innings. Let’s start on the mound where David Festa improved to 7-2 with a 2.25 ERA with 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, no walks, and he struck out six batters. Matt Mullenbach got four of the five batters he faced out. He did hit one batter. Bobby Milacki struck out four batters over the final two innings. The lone run allowed came on a ninth-inning home run. It’s been a tough season for outfielder Willie Joe Garry. He missed more than two months with injury, but since his return, the speedster has been playing very well. On this night, he went 3-for-4 with a single, double, and a home run. He drove in two of the Kernel runs and scored three runs. Jake Rucker went 2-for-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. If not the fewest in the league, the Minnesota Twins big-league club has very stolen bases. On Friday night, infielder Mikey Perez stole his 12th base since joining the Kernels. He had 32 stolen bases in Ft. Myers earlier in the season. Here are the organization’s Top 10 leaders in Stolen Bases in 2022: Mikey Perez - 44 DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. - 34 Austin Martin - 32 Michael Helman - 30 Yasser Mercedes - 30 Will Holland - 26 Daniel Ozoria - 20 Anthony Prato - 20 Luis Baez - 19 Noah Miller - 19 MUSSEL MATTERS Lakeland, Fort Myers (Game Suspended in the 3rd inning) Box Score The Mighty Mussels played two games on Thursday but only completed two innings on Friday night due to rain. We’ll have more on this game when it is completed (hopefully on Saturday), but we’ll show you a little of what happened. 30-year-old Brock Stewart started for the Mussels and went the first two innings. He gave up two runs on just one hit. Immediately following a hit batter in the second innings, he gave up a home run to Mike Rothenberg. But all that is the background to a potentially great story. Stewart was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round in 2014 out of Illinois State. Just two years after signing, he made his big-league debut. Between 2016 and 2019, he pitched in 36 games for the Dodgers, including 11 starts. He went 6-3 with a 6.05 ERA over 105 2/3 innings. When the Dodgers let him go, the Blue Jays claimed him and he went 4-0 over 10 late-season appearances. After that season, he was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft, but they let him go in late May of 2020 as the season was in doubt. He pitched in six games for the Chicago Deep Dish of the City of Champions Cup League. The Dodgers signed him before the 2021 season, but he had Tommy John surgery in May of 2021 and rehabbed the rest of the season. He hadn’t pitched at all this year either, but after a tryout, the Twins signed him in mid-July to a minor league deal. Maybe it’s a long shot, but maybe he works his way back and gets to the big leagues in a bullpen role. Those are the kind of stories that are fun to tell when a game is suspended in the bottom of the third. Michael Boyle pitched a scoreless top of the third. He is 28 years old and hasn’t pitched since 2019 with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa. He’s healthy and attempting to come back. Hopefully we’ll continue to write about him the next year or so and get to know more about his story too. Noah Cardenas hit a solo home run in the second inning, his ninth of the year. In the bottom of the third inning, Misael Urbina led off with a double. Ben Ross drove him in with a double. One batter later, Ross stole third base and then scored on a Cardenas single. Kala’i Rosario followed with an RBI double, his 20th two-bagger of the season. And that’s when the game was delayed by rain. The teams will attempt to finish this game as part of a modified doubleheader on Saturday late afternoon. That will be a nine-inning game. The regularly-scheduled game will then be a seven-inning game. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, (73 pitches, 47 strikes) Hitter of the Day – Willie Joe Garry, Jr. (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2B (9), HR (2), 3 R, 2 RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, RBI #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-2, BB, HBP, SB (31) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-4, BB, R, RBI, 2 K #13 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, (73 pitches, 47 strikes) #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K #16 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (67 pitches, 45 strikes) #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 0-2, 2 K #20 - Kala'i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-2, 2B(20), RBI K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Here are the start times and probables for their games. St. Paul @ Iowa (6:08 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Aaron Rozek Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (5:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin Lakeland @ Fort Myers (DH starting at 3:30 PM CST) - TBD, RHP Tomas Cleto Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday's games

TRANSACTIONS - RHP Jake Jewell claimed off waivers, assigned to Triple-A St.Paul - FCL Twins activated OF Reynaldo Madrigal from the 7-day injured list - C Nate Baez assigned to Low-A Fort Myers - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels transferred 2B Jorel Ortega from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels released C LaRon Smith. - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels activated RHP A.J. Labas from the 60-day injured list. SAINTS SENTINEL The game between the St.Paul Saints and the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wind Surge 3, Drillers 7 Box Score The Wind Surge were quiet offensively until the late innings, as Drillers’ starter Nick Nastrini took a no-hitter into the seventh. Aaron Sabato hit a solo homer to right center to break it up. Sabato’s home run is his second is as many days, as he walked off the game last night with a grand slam. It was a slow start for Sabato at Double-A but it’s possible he’s starting to hit his stride. Brent Headrick started for the Surge and struck out 10 over five innings. Headrick gave up a three-run homer in the fifth but otherwise was fantastic. Cole Sturgeon drove in two runs in the ninth on a single but it wasn't enough. The Surge are 62-48 and lead the Double-A Central by 1.5 games over the Drillers. This is a big weekend. KERNELS NUGGETS Kernels 1, Timber Rattlers 0 Box Score Four Kernels pitchers combined to shutout the Timber Rattlers in a 1-0 victory Thursday. Tyler Palm started and pitched three scoreless innings, giving way to six more outstanding innings from Jon Olsen, Matthew Swain, and Bradley Hanner. The Kernels allowed only three hits and three walks. Mikey Perez broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the fifth, his first of the season. Stunningly, it was the Kernels only hit of the night. They went 1-for-25 and won the game! On the whole, both offenses went 4-for-54. What a game. It was over in two hours and two minutes. The Kernels improved to 66-45. It's been a great year in Cedar Rapids. MUSSEL MATTERS Mussels 2, Cardinals 1 (Game suspended in in third) Box Score The Mighty Mussels will resume this game Friday and lead 2-1. Ben Ross hit a solo homer in the first, his second of the season. Alec Sayre drove in Kala’i Rosario on a sacrifice fly in the second. Rosario doubled for the 19th time this season. Mike Paredes gave up one run on a solo homer and struck out three. Paredes has a 2.92 ERA on the season. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 4, FCL Orioles 3 Box Score The FCL Twins rode a strong fifth inning to their 24th victory of the season. Trailing 2-0 in the fifth, the Twins scored four runs on an RBI single from Ishmael Pérez and three bases-loaded walks. The Twins held on thanks to two scoreless innings from Miguelangel Boadas. Making his fourth start on the year, José Olivares gave up two runs on a homer and an RBI single in three innings of work. Olivares struck out five and walked only two. He has a 4.01 ERA. The Twins are working back toward .500 and improved to 24-27 with this win over a scuffling FCL Orioles squad (12-38). DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 7, DSL Rockies 6 Box Score The middle of the Twins’ order continued their excellence in a tight, one-run victory Thursday. It was another banner day for José Rodríguez, who went 3-for-5 with two homers and 5 RBI. Rodríguez's second homer was a three-run shot that gave the Twins the lead. Rodríguez owns a .989 OPS with 13 homers in 52 games. Bryan Acuña went 3-for-5 with a double, bringing his season line up to .313/.415/.403. Isaac Peña also notched a multi-hit game, including a double. Peña is hitting .364/.455/.458. The Twins are crushing the ball. On the mound, the Twins did just enough to win while striking out seven. The Twins are 32-24 and continue to wow with their lineup. TWINS MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Minor League Hitter of the Day - José Rodríguez: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Tyler Palm: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, BB, 3 K PROSPECT SUMMARY #4 Austin Martin - 1-for-4, R #14 Edouard Julien - 0-for-3, BB #20 Kala’i Rosario - 1-for-1, 2B, R FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Saints - TBD (7:07 p.m.) Surge - RHP Daniel Gossett (7:05 p.m.) Kernels - TBD (6:35 p.m.) Mussels - RHP Pierson Ohl (5:30 p.m.) FCL Twins - TBD (10:00 a.m.) DSL Twins - TBD (11:00 a.m.) Questions or comments? Leave them below!

Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins signed RHP Ricky Mineo to a minor league contract The Twins signed RHP Jack Noble to a minor league contract The Twins signed SS Omari Daniel to a minor league contract The Twins signed LHP Jacob Edwards to a minor league contract The Twins signed RHP John Klein to a minor league contract St. Paul Saints (AAA) released 1B Curtis Terry RHP Daniel Gossett assigned to Wichita (AA) from St. Paul Wichita activated C Alex Isola from the 7-day IL SS Brooks Lee assigned to Cedar Rapids (High-A) from the FCL SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 1, Columbus 0 Box Score The St. Paul Saints won a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday. Dereck Rodriguez started for the Saints and threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out a pair. He has now allowed just two runs over his last 17 ⅔ innings. The Saints bullpen was phenomenal on Wednesday. Ronny Henriquez threw 3 2/3 hitless innings while striking out three in relief of Rodriguez. After Henriquez was pulled, Evan Sisk came in and got three outs, all strikeouts. He walked a batter but didn’t allow any hits or runs. Brad Peacock relieved Sisk with two outs in the eighth and collected the final four outs to pick up the save, his eighth of the year. The Saints got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth when John Andreoli socked his tenth homer of the season. This would prove to be the game-winning home run. Elliot Soto also picked up a couple of hits to help pace the offense. Twins Daily’s #9 prospect, Matt Wallner, had a tough day at the plate, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He did potentially save a run or two, however, with an impressive sliding catch with two runners on base. The Saints improve to 52-53 on the season with the win. The Saints will send Jordan Balazovic to the mound on Thursday in hopes of getting to .500 on the season. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 0, Corpus Christi 3 Box Score Wichita dropped a tough pitchers’ duel to the Corpus Christi Hooks on Wednesday night. Wichita could only manage three hits in the loss. Cody Laweryson took the ball for Wichita and had a solid start, throwing three scoreless innings, scattering two hits, and striking out four. The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth when Osiris German allowed an RBI single to Joe Perez, putting Wichita in a 1-0 hole. The Hooks added another run off Blayne Enlow in the sixth to extend their lead to two. Wichita’s best offensive chances were all squandered. In the top of the second, when Jair Camargo and Cole Sturgeon walked to lead off the inning, three consecutive Wind Surge batters struck out to end the threat. In the fifth, Wichita had two guys on with back-to-back walks, but a double play ended the threat. In the sixth, Wichita got singles from Andrew Bechtold and Sturgeon but could not capitalize. With the loss, Wichita’s record drops to 56-47. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 6 Box Score One day after playing in the Field of Dreams game, Cedar Rapids played a tightly contested game with the Quad Cities River Bandits, in which they lost by a score of 6-5. 2022 first-round pick Brooks Lee made his High-A debut, and he played a solid game, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Jake Rucker started the game with a bang as he led off the game with a homer in the top of the first, his fourth homer of the year for Cedar Rapids (sixth between Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers). The River Bandits responded with three runs (one earned) off of starter Orlando Rodriguez in three innings. Rodriguez gave up two hits and fanned four batters in the start. Cedar Rapids got a run back in the top of the fifth thanks to Dylan Neuse’s third homer of the year (fifth between CR and FM). After the River Bandits tacked on another run to make it 4-2, the Kernels took the lead in the sixth thanks to an RBI double from Kyler Fedko, an RBI groundout from Pat Winkel, and an RBI double from Mikey Perez. Quad Cities tied it up in the bottom of the sixth; from there, it was a battle of the bullpens. Bobby Milacki threw a scoreless seventh, Jon Olsen pitched a scoreless eighth, and Ryan Shreve threw a scoreless ninth for the Kernels. Cedar Rapids squandered their opportunity to begin the inning with a runner on second in the tenth, and Quad Cities did not, as Shreve walked in the winning run. Perez and Fedko had two doubles to lead the offense in the loss. Cedar Rapids drops to 61-42 with the loss. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 9 Box Score Fort Myers played Jupiter tough but eventually faltered in the last few innings as they dropped the game 9-5. The Mighty Mussels were up 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning but allowed eight runs in the last four innings as their pitchers got hit around quite a bit. Fort Myers started the scoring in the top of the first when Keoni Cavaco hit a sac fly and reached on an error, scoring Noah Miller. However, they could not capitalize on having bases loaded and one out after that, as Rubel Cespedes and Kala’i Rosario each struck out swinging to end the threat. This gave Fort Myers starting pitcher Jordan Carr a 1-0 lead before he took the mound. Carr pitched two scoreless innings before giving up an inside-the-park homer. Marlins #12 prospect Yiddi Cappe hit a sinking line drive that Misael Urbina dove for and missed, and the ball rolled to the fence, allowing Cappe to score. Fort Myers put up three more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a single from Carlos Aguiar, three walks, an error, two wild pitches, and a passed ball. Jupiter got those runs back on one swing in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to Chase Luttrell. After that inning, Carr’s day was done. He went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out a pair of Jupiter hitters. Cavaco gave Fort Myers the lead in the sixth when he doubled, scoring new Mighty Mussel Tanner Schobel. Regi Grace entered in the bottom of the sixth with a 5-4 lead, but the first two batters he faced hit a single and a homer, reclaiming the lead for the Hammerheads. This would give Jupiter the lead for good as they tacked on three insurance runs over the next three innings off of Grace and Samuel Perez. Schobel and Aguiar each had multi-hit games in the loss, and Noah Cardenas reached base four times thanks to a single and three walks. The loss drops Fort Myers’ record to 56-44 through their 100th game of the year. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 3 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2 2B (2), BB, RBI, SB (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: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K #7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, R, K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 4 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K #16 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 3 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K #17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) -2-for-4, R, BB, 2 K #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, BB, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-5, 10.75 ERA) Corpus Christi @ Wichita (7:05 CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams (0-1, 10.13 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!

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!

Let’s look at his team specifically: the Wichita Wind Surge. Currently, they sit as the 3rd most steal-happy team in their division, the Texas League. The two most effective culprits are Austin Martin and DaShawn Keirsey, as Martin has 22 bags swiped under his name, and Kiersey has 18. Michael Helman has also broken double digits—without being caught as well—but no other player stands out like Martin and Kiersey. Instead, the team offers a democratic approach, with only one player, Catcher Alex Isola, lacking a successful steal so far this season. For Martin, his stealing acumen appears to be a new or at least unreleased skill. He had a comparatively low 14 steals last year, holds a 50 FV grade in “Run” according to Fangraphs, and the only mention I can find about his speed on Fangraphs’ scouting reports is Eric Longenhagen calling it “solid.” Although, Jeffrey Paternostro at Baseball Prospectus noted that he “was aggressive on the basepaths” in college. Perhaps the Twins wanted to unleash a wild baserunner otherwise limited by the Blue Jays. Wichita isn’t the only team running mayhem on the base paths. The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are also 3rd in their division in burglary. Mikey Perez alone has gotten away with an otherworldly 24 steals—a total that defines him as the 19th most prolific stealer in Minor League Baseball. Noah Miller, Jake Rucker, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Daniel Ozoria join Perez as double-digit swipers; like Wichita, their catchers, Kyle Schmidt and Dillon Tatum, are the only regular players without a steal. Slight tangent: Mikey Perez is an enigma. I’ve been writing about his great play all year, but I can barely find any information on him. No one at Fangraphs has written anything him; Baseball Prospectus is equally silent. The only articles/mentions/smoke signals/morse code orders/messages from a bottle I can find about him come from an MLB. com article from last year and the three sentences that make up his Perfect Game scouting report. How is a player so good at stealing? I want to know! One big question remains: why more steals? The stolen base and its adjacent scrappy playstyle have taken a back seat to power since the Kansas City Royals lost their credibility following their World Series victory. Guess who the league leader in steals is; do you know? It’s Julio Rodriguez, but only Mariners fans and other niche hipster baseball dorks aggressively celebrate it. Once teams realized that hitting the ball over the fence ensures a run on the board, speed fell quickly out of favor as MLB’s metagame moved towards homers. But the steal may return soon. Proposed rule changes like bigger bases, a limit on pickoffs, and the seemingly inevitable pitch clock all at least implicitly support a rejuvenated stolen-base metagame. One of my followers pointed out that the pitch clock can work as a countdown for the baserunner as well; they can take off at the precise moment the pitcher must throw the ball. Anyways, it’s unclear whether this is an affiliate-at-large movement. The Cedar Rapids Kernels are 9th in their 12-team division, while the St. Paul Saints are 14th out of 20 teams. This swiped bags movement could be a serendipitous meeting of a few steal-happy players collaborating to annoy catchers in an otherwise neutral team philosophy; little stands out in the stats to say otherwise. Still, the franchise has a handful of successful stealers moving through their system, and their playstyle could add a dynamic wrinkle to a homogenous power-focused offense.

Previous 2022 Hitters of the Month - April: Christian Encarnacion-Strand We’ll take a look at the top five hitters of the month, but before diving into it, let’s start with an honorable mention. Honorable Mention - Will Holland - Cedar Rapids Kernels 19-71, .268/.350/.507 (.857), two doubles, three triples, and three home runs Holland was a 5th round pick from Auburn by the Twins during the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. This has been one of his better months as a professional, and he now has an .800 OPS for Cedar Rapids.. It would be good for Holland to parlay a hot start into an eventual promotion to Double-A Wichita. Top Five Hitters Number 5 - Wichita Wind Surge - C Alex Isola - 22-68, .324/.425/.500 (.925), three doubles, three home runs Isola was a late-round selection in 2019, grabbed by Minnesota in the 29th round. Making his Double-A debut after a solid 2021 playing at High-A Cedar Rapids, Isola got hot in May. He’s never been a high batting average guy, but the .297 batting average this season is more than nice to see. Isola has a good amount of power and strong plate discipline. With Minnesota needing catching depth at the highest levels, his emergence early this season could afford more opportunity as the season rolls on. Number 4 - Fort Myers Miracle - SS Noah Miller - 30-87, .345/.457/.517 (1.006), five doubles, two triples, two home runs A first-round pick for the Twins last season, Miller looks the part of a true shortstop. He’s held down the position well thus far during his professional career, and his bat broke out in a big way during May. Speed is part of Miller’s game and that was evidenced by the pair of triples. He’s probably not going to hit a ton of homers, but he draws a lot of walks and already has 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts this season. Number 3 - Fort Myers Miracle - INF Mikey Perez - 21-82, .256/.361/.524 (.885), seven doubles, five home runs Minnesota grabbed Perez in the 15th round of last year’s draft out of UCLA. His pro debut was a good one, but it consisted of just 10 games last season. After a slow start in April, Perez turned it on in a big way last month. The 12 extra-base hits in just 23 games are impressive, and for a guy that never really hit for power in college, a month with five home runs is a development the Twins have to be excited about. Number 2 - Wichita Wind Surge - OF Matt Wallner - 25-84, .298/.422/.595 (1.017) seven doubles, six home runs Wallner was a first-round pick for the Twins in 2019 after he had been a 32nd-round selection out of high school (as a pitcher) three years prior. Spending three years at Southern Mississippi was the smart route for him. He improved his stock immensely, and Wallner has flashed big tools. He’s got one of the best arms in the system and hits for some of the most power. There’s always been a considerable amount of swing-and-miss in his game, but Wallner is now showing a stronger sense of plate discipline as well. He’ll have plenty of months where he hits lots of dingers. If he has a June that looks like his May, he could push a ticket to St. Paul. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Wichita Wind Surge/St. Paul Saints - INF Spencer Steer - 28-90, .311/.388/.678 (1.066), six doubles, nine home runs At one point it, could’ve been argued that Steer was among the most underrated prospects in the Twins system, but I think we’ve blitzed by that point. He was rewarded with a promotion to Triple-A St. Paul recently and has continued to crush the ball there. Steer was a third-round pick in 2019 and has hit at every stop of the farm. The 24 dingers last season showed the work he put in while minor league baseball was canceled in 2020. He’s already got ten homers this season and two of them have come in his week with the Saints. Steer has an exceptional approach at the plate and is a well-balanced hitter. He has quickly become someone that the Twins can look at as a future fixture in their lineup. The Twins current middle infield is a bit crowded with superstars and top prospects, but at some of the most impactful positions on the diamond, that’s a great problem to have. Steer will be tested plenty at Triple-A, but being 24-years-old, he could factor in as part of the next wave. Minnesota has to be impressed with the career trajectory thus far, and a strong May has made 2022 an exciting start. We’d like to congratulate Spencer Steer, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for May 2022. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions below.

TRANSACTIONS RHP Trevor Megill selected by Minnesota Twins LHP Devin Smeltzer optioned to AAA St. Paul RHP Tyler Bashlor placed on IL (right elbow strain) RHP Jake Petricka placed on COVID-19 related IL RHP Bailey Ober returned to Twins Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Omaha 2 Box Score Dereck Rodriguez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K HR: Jake Cave (2) Multi-hit games: None The Saints cruised on Saturday. Royce Lewis walked, Alex Kirilloff singled, Jermaine Palacios walked, and Jake Cave brought the family home with a grand slam. You can’t start a game better than that. St. Paul would not score the rest of the game, but they didn’t need to as they received an outstanding effort from their pitching staff. Dereck Rodriguez was on his game. The former, former Twins prospect struck out nine batters over five innings while allowing just six baserunners. His ERA at AAA is now a sparkling 1.74, and one has to imagine that he’ll get another chance in the majors before long. Rodriguez handed the reigns to Ian Hamilton, who out-dueled Omaha hitters to the tune of three strikeouts over five total outs. His ERA is somehow even lower at 1.08. If he continues to quell the walks, his number could be called very soon. Overall it was a pretty quiet game. Cave’s grand slam represented the crucial runs while Omaha never established themselves at the plate. Hey, quiet wins count as much as loud ones. Of note: Royce Lewis played in left field, and it appears that he caught all of one out in the game. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, Springfield 9 Box Score Ben Gross: 3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K HR: Andrew Bechtold (5) Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB), Chris Williams (3-for-4, R, RBI, BB) Wichita lost a close game on Saturday. It was a classic barn-burner in score but not in game flow. Springfield, at one point, enjoyed a 9-0 lead over Wichita before an explosive six-run 7th inning brought intrigue to a game entirely in the blowout category. Let’s back up. An ugly 2nd inning that included a balk, a few hits, and two errors netted the Cardinals four quick runs. Gross would pitch one more inning afterward, but the damage remained attached to his name. Zach Featherstone put forth his best attempt at controlling the game but was only rewarded with an inflated ERA. A barrage of hits mixed with an error from Michael Helman doubled Springfield’s lead in short order. A solo homer would make the score the aforementioned 9-0 lead, but Wichita’s bats came alive in the 7th. It was a story in two parts: the first being runs scored by traditional hits, the second being patience leading to flourishing rewards. Ernie Yake doubled, Austin Martin singled, and Andrew Bechtold brought everyone home with a three-run blast. Some may see a home run as a rally-killer, yet it was anything but in this inning. An array of walks knocked old friend Kevin Marnon from the game before old friend Johan Quezada came in to establish order. He did not. A wild pitch brought home the inning's fifth run before a walk to Martin netted the sixth and final one. Chris Williams doubled home a run in the following inning, but it was not enough to overcome the brutal 9-0 deficit, and Wichita walked away without a win. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 12 Box Score John Stankiewicz: 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: Will Holland (3) Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) The Kernels lost handily on Saturday. The Captains jumped on John Stankiewicz as the early innings melted into the middle innings, and the rest of the game’s narrative quickly followed suit. Ryan Shreve and Miguel Rodriguez were unable to stop an offensive movement in the 6th inning, and any scoring after that was a vain attempt at stat-padding. Cedar Rapids was held in check offensively as well. Kernels hitters punched out 14 times while reaching base only nine times; they went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Seth Gray was the big bat of the day, reaching base three times while knocking in half of Cedar Rapids’ runs; Will Holland knocked in the other two when he homered in the 3rd inning. To look for more bright spots, Bradley Hanner continued his ridiculous start to the season with two strikeouts over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. His season ERA is now a sparkling 0.50. Yeah, that’ll play. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Clearwater 5 Box Score Marco Raya: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: Mikey Perez (5) Multi-hit games: Mikey Perez (2-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Dylan Neuse (2-for-3) Fort Myers lost a close one on Saturday. Marco Raya, looking to continue his fine start to the season, took the mound for the Mighty Mussels. The right-hander could not reign in his dominant stuff, and the Threshers made him pay, knocking around eight hits to go with three walks and three earned runs. It will be on to the next start for him. Clearwater’s offense was not a consistent onslaught despite the earned runs, instead evenly distributing their runs one at a time in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings, respectively. In fact, the Mighty Mussels held a slight lead after the top of the 7th inning when Mikey Perez blasted an Earl Weaver special to give Fort Myers a 4-3 lead. Although, the Mighty Mussels forgot that defense was part of Weaver’s special equation, and a dodgeball fight involving Noah Cardenas and Perez in the bottom half of the 7th resulted in a tying run scoring for Clearwater. They would score once more the following inning to win. The team shot themselves in the foot offensively as well. While four runs will win a team a fair amount of ballgames, the Mighty Mussels left a small army stranded on base; 11 to be exact. They walked and slashed hits all around the field like a good team is supposed to do but just missed out on a few damaging knocks that could have sealed a win. Altogether, six Mighty Mussels hitters reached base multiple times; Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez walked more than once, while Miller added a base hit for good measure. Regi Grace stood out for Fort Myers pitchers, allowing just one earned run over eight outs, with five of those coming via a strikeout. Because baseball is inherently cruel, he was tagged with the loss. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, R, K #5 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (79 pitches, 51 strikes) #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K #11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, R, BB #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, R, 3 BB, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (2:05 PM) - RHP Ronny Henriquez Springfield @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - LHP Brent Headrick Fort Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin

So be sure to use these weekly reports for what they are. A look at the week. We want to highlight deserving prospects. They have earned it. Celebrate the successes throughout the whole season. But this week at Twins Daily, we have had a lot of minor-league coverage. As players are starting to step up and put together strong seasons, we want to dig into them a little further, so you'll find a lot this week. If you missed it, read Nick's Twins Week in Review after you've read about the minor league week. TRANSACTIONS With no Monday Minor League Report, here are the transactions from later on Sunday and on Monday. Following Sunday's Twins game, OF Mark Contreras was optioned to St. Paul. OF Kyle Garlick was activated from the Injured List. RHP Ryan Shreve has been activated from the IL by Cedar Rapids. RHP David Festa was promoted from Ft. Myers to Cedar Rapids. RHP Matt Mullenbach was sent back to the Florida Complex. RESULTS Previous Week in Review (5/3-5/9): Wallner, Miller, Steer, Headrick, Stankiewicz Star Tuesday: Mighty Mussels No-Hitter! Wednesday: Gonzalez Dominates, Kernels Shuck the Opposition Thursday: Kernels Krush, Wichita Rakes Friday: Mighty Mussels Sweep, Fedko Homers in Kernels Debut Saturday: A Denied Rehab Start and a Clean Franchise Sweep Sunday: Mussels Sweep! Kernels Keep Winning! MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT Prospect Retrospective: OF Mark Contreras Prospect Retrospective: RHP Yennier Cano “It felt great.” Balazovic Reflects on First Start of 2022 and What’s Ahead Matt Canterino Continues to Dominate Minor League Hitters It’s Time to Start Noticing Brent Headrick From Lee to Limestone: One Prospect Who Needs More Attention (Video) From Lee to Limestone: Three Questions with Brent Headrick (Video) WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week: 0-6, at Columbus Season: 15-19 overall, 9th place out of ten teams in the International League West. They are 8.0 games behind Nashville. A week ago, they were in third place. The Saints were swept in a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, and that finished out a six-game sweep at the hands of the Columbus Clippers. It was also the Saints' seventh straight loss. It was also their eighth straight loss on the road. In his series, the Saints lost three times by one run, and once by two, three, and four runs. Three of the games went to extra innings. The Saints scored 30 runs last week, but they gave up 41 runs. Caleb Hamilton played in all six games. The utility man went 9-for-18 and hit .500/.609/.667 (1.276) with a home run. He also walked five times. Alex Kirilloff returned to the Saints on Sunday and had two hits in both games of the doubleheader. Chi Chi Gonzalez made one start and tossed six scoreless, hitless innings. He did walk four batters, but he struck out seven batters. He was named the International League's pitcher of the week. What’s Next? The Saints travel to Omaha to take on the Storm Chasers. Pitching Probables (RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, RHP Jake Faria, RHP Jordan Balazovic, RHP Mario Sanchez, RHP Dereck Rodriguez, RHP Ronny Henriquez) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Week: 3-2, @ NW Arkansas Season: 19-12 overall, 1st place in the Texas League North Division with Tulsa. They are just 1/2 game ahead of Tulsa (19-13). The Wind Surge were outscored 25-27 on the week but managed to take a 3-2 series win. Sunday’s game was rained out and officially canceled. Why canceled instead of postponed? The two teams are not scheduled to play each other again in the season’s first half so there is no opportunity to make it up. Here are some of the top performances for the Wind Surge this past week: Matt Canterino continues to dominate hitters in the Texas League. In his outing this week, he tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck out six batters without issuing a walk. Austin Schulfer pitched twice and recorded a save each time. In four innings, he gave up one earned run on three hits. He struck out six batters. Maybe not a great performance, but Blayne Enlow made his return to the mound (not in a rehab outing) 11 months after Tommy John surgery. That is a highlight! He went 3 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He struck out six batters and issued no walks. It took him a while to get his first hit, but in four games this past week, Leobaldo Cabrera went 3-for-9 with two home runs. Andrew Bechtold played four games. He went 6-for-15 (.400) with four doubles and a home run. Alex Isola went 5-for-15 (.333) with three walks and a home run. Spencer Steer went 4-for-20 (.200), but two of the hits were home runs. Edouard Julien went 3-for-14 (.214), but he walked ten times for a .542 on-base percentage. What’s Next? The Wind Surge will be hosting the Springfield Cardinals. Pitching Probables (RHP Matt Canterino, RHP Louie Varland, RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Blayne Enlow, RHP Casey Legumina, RHP Matt Canterino) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week: 5-1, at Peoria Season: 24-9 overall, 1st place in the Midwest League West Division, 2.0 games ahead of Wisconsin (22-11), who also went 5-1 last week as well. In April, the Kernels hosted Peoria and won five of six games. This past week, they did it again, this time on the road in Peoria. The Kernels outscored the Chiefs 47-12. In four of the six games, Cedar Rapids gave up just one run. Of 17 pitchers who pitched in at least one game last week, 13 of them didn’t allow an earned run. What a week of pitching for the Kernels. Over the first five games of the week, the team allowed just nine total runs, and only five of them were earned. Brent Headrick continues to impress. The lefty struck out seven batters over five scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked none. Fellow lefty Aaron Rozek also tossed five scoreless innings in his start. He gave up three hits, walked none, and struck out nine batters. Sawyer Gipson-Long went five scoreless innings in his start. He gave up two hits, walked none, and struck out seven batters. Sean Mooney gave up an unearned run over five innings in his start. He gave up five hits and struck out four batters without allowing a walk. John Stankiewicz started on Sunday and gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out five batters. Cody Laweryson came out of the bullpen twice. In five innings, he gave up only an unearned run on one hit and no walks. He struck out five batters. As pointed out above, the Kernels bats showed up too. Alerick Soularie led the way. In five games, he went 6-for-19 and hit .316/.409/.842 (1.251) with two triples, two homers, and seven RBI. He also walked three times and stole two bases. Will Holland played in four games. He went 5-for-14 and hit .357/.438/.714 (1.152) with a triple and a home run. Jair Camargo played in three games and went 5-for-14 (.357) with two home runs and five RBI. Wander Javier played in five games and went 4-for-19. He hit .211/.318/.526 (.844) with two home runs and five RBI. What’s Next? The Kernels will be starting a 12-game homestand starting on Tuesday with six games against Lake County. Pitching Probables (RHP Sean Mooney, LHP Aaron Rozek, LHP Cade Povich, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long, RHP John Stankiewicz, LHP Brent Headrick) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Week: 6-0, hosting Palm Beach Season: 20-10 overall, 1st place in the Florida State League West, 2.0 games ahead of Clearwater (18-12). For the first time, the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels swept a six-game series. Why? As usual, it all comes down to pitching. 16 pitchers threw for Ft. Myers during the week. 12 of them didn’t allow a run (earned or unearned). In six games, the pitchers allowed a total of six runs. The team threw shutouts in the first three games of the series and again on Sunday. Of course, the highlight of the week was the combined no-hitter. The Mussels offense was solid too. They scored 28 runs. David Festa struck out 11 batters over six innings in his start this week. He walked two batters, but he gave up no hits. Jaylen Nowlin and Hunter McMahon completed the final three innings of the no-hitter. Travis Adams had another very good start. In five shutout innings, he gave up two hits, walked two, and struck out six batters. Marco Raya made the start on Sunday. He tossed four no-hit innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. Matthew Swain pitched two and recorded two saves. In two innings, he gave up one hit, no walks, and struck out five batters. Malik Barrington struck out ten batters over four innings over his two relief appearances. He recorded his first save on Sunday. He gave up just three hits and one walk on the week. Hunter McMahon threw four scoreless innings over two games. He recorded one save. He gave up three hits, walked one, and recorded two strikeouts. Jaylen Nowlin worked five total innings during the week. He did not allow a run. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one, and struck out seven batters. Mike Paredes made a spot start and tossed three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. The offense was good too, and this week they were led by infielder Mikey Perez. In five games, he went 8-for-18 and hit .444/.524/.944 (1.468) with three doubles and two home runs. He also went 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Emmanuel Rodriguez had a strong week. He played all six games and went 8-for-19. He hit .421/.542/.579 (1.121) with a double, and a triple. He also walked four times. Catcher Dillon Tatum played in four games and went 3-for-3. He had a home run and walked four times. Oh, and he caught a no-hitter. Jake Rucker played in six games. He went 8-for-23 and hit .348/.400/.478 (.878) with three doubles. Noah Miller hit .308 (4-for-13) with seven walks for a .550 on-base percentage. What’s Next? The Mighty Mussels will head to Clearwater for a big, eight-game series against the Threshers. They will play two games on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The beauty of rainouts in Florida, eh? Pitching Probables Tuesday: Bullpen to complete suspended game. RHP Travis Adams in the regular game. Wednesday: RHP Pierson Ohl, RHP Mike Paredes Thursday: No Game Friday: LHP Steve Hajjar, Bullpen Game Saturday: Marco Raya Sunday: TBD PROSPECT SUMMARY This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week. You may have noticed, the Prospect Tracker has been updated, and will be updated on the first of each month throughout the season. #1 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 3 G, 3-for-12 (.250), 2-2B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K (Season: 24 G, .310/.430/.563 (.993), 11-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 21 R, 11 RBI, 17 BB, 20 K) #1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 6 G, 6-for-22 (.273), 1-2B, 1-HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K (Season: 9 G, .281/.281/.438 (.719), 2-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K) #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 5 G, 6-for-23 (.261), 0-2B, 1-3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K (Season: 30 G, .246/.366/.339 (.705), 6-2B, 1-3B, 1-HR, 23 R, 10 RBI, 17 BB, 20 K, 17 SB, 0 CS) #3 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 2 GS, 10.0 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 5 BB, 8 K (Season: 7 GS, 37.2 IP, 10 R, 24 H, 12 BB, 36 K, 4-2, 2.39 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 8.6 K/9) #4 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 5 G, 6-for-18 (.333), 2-2B, 1-HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1K (Season: 21 G, .256/.295/.442 (.737), 10-2B, 2-HR, 10 R, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 14 K) #4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - Week: 4 G, 1-for-18 (.056), 0-2B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 6 K (Season: 11 G, .114/.152/.227 (.379), 2-2B, 1-HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K) #5 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 2.0 IP, 7 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K (Season: 2 GS, 5.2 IP, 7 R, 3 ER, 13 H, 4 BB, 5 K. #6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K (Season: 6 GS, 32.2 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 17 H, 9 BB, 32 K, 2-1, 2.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 8.8 K/9) #7 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 3.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K (Season: 6 G, 3 GS, 25.2 IP, 9 R, 7 ER, 18 H, 7 BB, 22 K, 2-1, 2.45 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 7.7 K/9) #8 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 2 G, 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (Season: 12 G, 16.2 IP, 6 R, 10 H, 3 BB, 25 K, 0-1, 2 Saves, 3.24 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 1.6 BB/9, 13.5 K/9) #9 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K (Season: 7 GS, 20.2 IP, 3 R, 9 H, 11 BB, 28 K, 0-1, 1.31 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9, 12.2 K/9) #10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 6 G, 8-for-19 (.421) , 1-2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 6 K (Season: 28 G, .270/.468/.506 (.974), 4-2B, 1-3B, 5-HR, 22 R, 14 RBI, 31 BB, 34 K) #11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 4-for-13 (.308), 0-2B, 0-HR, 7 BB, 4 K (Season: 27 G, .278/.431/.361 (.792), 3-2B, 1-3B, 1 HR, 19 R, 6 RBI, 24 BB, 32 K) #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 K (Season: 6 G, 5 GS, 31.2 IP, 16 R, 13 ER, 25 H, 11 BB, 35 K, 4-1, 3.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, 9.9 K/9) #13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 5 G, 4 GS, 15.2 IP, 15 R, 22 H, 5 BB, 18 K, 0-4, 8.62 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.3 K/9) #13 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 1 G, 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K (Season: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9) #14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K (Season: 4 G, 3 GS, 13.2 IP, 7 R, 12 H, 7 BB, 13 K, 0-1, 4.61 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 4.6 BB/9, 8.6 K/9) #15 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, (Season: 5 G, 4 GS, 19.0 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 11 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2-1, 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 9.9 K/9) #16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 5 G, 4-for-20 (.200), 0-2B, 2-HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K (Season: 30 G, .300/.384/.558 (.942), 11-2B, 1-3B, 6-HR, 22 R, 25 RBI, 13 BB, 22 K) #17 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 3.1 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K (Season: 5 GS, 22.1 IP, 14 R, 10 ER, 22 H, 6 BB, 32 K, 2-2, 4.03 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 12.9 K/9) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 6 G, 6-for-26 (.231), 1-2B, 1-3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 31 G, .336/.396/.536 (.932), 6-2B, 2-3B, 5-HR, 19 R, 29 RBI, 12 BB, 34 K) #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 5 G, 3-for-14 (.214), 0-2B, 0-HR, 10 BB, 5 K (Season: 22 G, .268/.432/.394 (.826), 4-2B, 1-3B, 1-HR, 14 R, 10 RBI, 22 BB, 20 K) #20 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - Week/Season: 1 GS, 3.2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 0-0, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 0.00 BB/9, 14.7 K/9) PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Hitter of the Week: Infielder Mikey Perez, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Finally finding his name in the lineup nearly every day sure did wonders for Mikey Perez. Last week, he played in five games. He went 8-for-18 and hit .444/.524/.944 (1.468) with three doubles, two homers, and six RBI. He walked twice, and he went 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. On the season, he has played in 23 games. He is 18-for-73 and hitting .247/.382/.452 (.834) with six doubles, three homers, and 13 RBI. He is also 8-for-9 on stolen base attempts. Perez was the Twins 15th round pick in 2021 out of UCLA where his mom is one of the top college softball coaches in the country. Perez can play all over the field, but he has played mostly at second base in college and so far as a pro. He’s played some third base as well. He also is a solid shortstop, though with Noah Miller getting most of the playing time there. Pitcher of the Week: RHP David Festa, Ft. Myers Might Mussels David Festa worked the first six innings of the Mighty Mussels combined no-hitter this week. In those six innings, he walked two batters and struck out 11 batters. Festa was the Twins 13th round pick in 2021 out of Seton Hall University. As a junior, he went 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA. After signing, he pitched in two FCL games and two games with the Mighty Mussels. He impressed at Instructs by posting some impressive velocities on his fastball and slider. Through his first five starts of 2022, he is now 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA. In 24 innings, he has struck out 33 batters and walked just six batters. In his most recent start, he hit 99.1 mph. He not only should rocket up prospect rankings, but it’s very possible he moves up to Cedar Rapids in the near future. On Monday, Festa was promoted to Cedar Rapids. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments on the teams and players.