The Twins and all four of their affiliates played on Saturday Lots of good content for you below.
TRANSACTIONS
On Wednesday morning, the Twins announced the RHP David Festa was being placed on the Injured List with shoulder inflammation. RHP Travis Adams was again added to the big-league roster to take the spot.
A day after claiming catcher Jhonny Pereda off of waivers, the Twins released Diego Cartaya from the Saints roster. The 23-year-old from Venezuela was a consensus Top 100 prospect before the 2022 and 2023 seasons Before the 2023 season, Baseball Prospectus ranked him #19 overall, Baseball American ranked him #18 overall, and MLB Pipeline ranked him the #14 prospect in baseball.
This offseason, the Dodgers were signing everyone again, as they are wont to do. On January 3, Cartaya became a roster casualty when the Dodgers DFAd him. Six days later, the Twins sent a DSL pitcher to the Dodgers and took a shot on a guy coming off of a rough age 22 season but just one year removed from being a Top 20 global prospect. As fans, I think we would encourage the front office to do the same thing the next time a similar situation happens.
Cartaya started the season by going 2-for-25 (.080) with 18 strikeouts, and before April was complete, the Twins DFAd the backstop, he cleared waivers, and was outrighted to the Saints. In 13 games since coming off of the 40-man roster, he went 3-for-34 (.088) with 22 strikeouts. He has spent most of his time on the Development List which is unfortunate since Jair Camargo got injured early this season and had Tommy John surgery.
SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul, Worcester
Box Score
Postponed by Rain. The plan is to play two games on Thursday. It marked their 14th rainout of the season, tops in both minor-league baseball and MLB.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 0, Springfield 3
Box Score
A reminder that baseball can be a very humbling sport. On Tuesday night, the Wind Surge scored 12 runs on 18 hits (including seven home runs). On Wednesday night, the Wind Surge were shutout and managed just three hits, all singles. They struck out 11 times. Rubel Cespedes went 1-for-2 with a walk. Kyler Fedko went 1-for-3 with a walk. Nate Baez had the other hit.
Christian MacLeod started and had six strikeouts in four innings of work. He gave up two runs on three hits and a hit batter. MacLeod threw 50 strikes in 57 pitches, an impressive 70.2%
Jaylen Nowlin came on and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. In 1 2/3 innings, he had three strikeouts. Aaron Rozek came on and kept an inherited runner from scoring. The southpaw tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and had three strikeouts.
Unfortunately, this game marks the end of Gabriel Gonzalez’s 13-game hitting streak and 24-game on-base streak.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Ft. Wayne 4
Box Score
The Kernels played a matinee game in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday. They fell behind early but stayed in striking distance so that they could walk it off in the bottom of the ninth.
Tanner Hall started and gave up two runs on one hit and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He hit a batter and had three strikeouts. Lefty Wilker Reyes went the next 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on four hits. He had two strikeouts. Jeremy Lee worked the next two innings and gave up one run on three hits. He struck out three batters without walking anyone. Samuel Perez came on and tossed two scoreless innings… while the Kernels mounted their comeback.
Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Kernels started their comeback. Caden Kendle led off the inning with a walk. Maddux Houghton singled to right and advanced to second on the throw to third base. Justin Connell walked to load the bases. Kyle DeBarge lined a single to left field to drive in two runs.
Fast-forward to the bottom of the eighth. The Kernels were down 4-2. Billy Amick led off with a single to left. Brandon Winokur followed with his 18th double to drive in Amick and make it 4-3. However, they were unable to drive in Winokur from second base.
Perez was terrific, keeping the Kernels in the game. Heading to the bottom of the ninth down by a run, it was Kendle who got things started with a leadoff double. Houghton walked. Poncho Ruiz grounded out, but the runners were able to advance to second and third with one out. The lineup turned back over to the top, and Kyle DeBarge stepped to the plate. He lined a single to right field that drove in Kendle with the tying run, and Houghton crossed the plate as the winning run.
Things haven’t seemingly come as easy for DeBarge in the second half, but on this day, he went 3-for-4 and drove in four of the team’s five runs including that walk-off winner. Kendle went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 17th double. Jaime Ferrer donned the catcher’s gear behind the plate. After twice getting hit by pitches, he may have been thinking of just wearing the gear to the plate too. Justin Connell walked twice and stole a base.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Lakeland 4
Box Score
Christian Becerra started for the Mussels and gave up two unearned runs on two hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Matt Gabbert came in and gave up one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Ruddy Gomez worked the final two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He hit a batter and had four strikeouts.
The Mussels did very little with their bats on Wednesday. The top player was “Mussels Batter #7.” Byron Chourio started the game in left field and batting seventh. He went 2-for-2 with a double. He was later pinch run for by Angel Del Rosario who went 1-for-1 with a triple. Later, Yohander Martinez came on and went 1-for-1 with a double and the lone RBI.
That spot went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple and the RBI. The rest of the Mussels lineup combined to go 2-for-29 (.069). Rayne Doncon hit a double.
COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins, FCL Orioles
Box Score
Postponed by Rain. The plan is to play two games on Thursday. It is the final day of the FCL regular season. So why are they playing a doubleheader? Here are the top of the standings in the FCL South Division going into Thursday:
FCL Twins 37-20
FCL Orioles 35-22 (2 games back).
I wonder if the Twins won the first game if they would still play the second game. I would suspect that they still will have to play it. The playoffs are made up of four teams, the three division winners and one wild card team. In the East division, the Astros already claimed that title. In the North division, the Tigers hold a one-game lead over the Blue Jays with one more game to play. They don’t play each other. One of them will win the division. Going into Thursday, the Blue Jays and Orioles both have 35 wins.
If the Twins lost both of the games, it’s possible that they would lose the tiebreaker to the Orioles. However, if they lose two games, they will have a record of 37-22. If the Jays win, they will have a record of 36-23. So, I believe that the Twins have clinched a playoff spot, it’s just a matter of if it’s as the Division winner and #1 seed (based on best record in the league) or they will be the wild card and be the #4 seed. (If you’re reading into this like me, it likely means that it is very likely that the Twins and Orioles will play a semi-final game on Saturday.
Regardless, they will have Friday off and begin the playoffs on Saturday. If they win on Saturday, they would play the other semi-finals winner on Monday and again on Tuesday. If needed, a Game 3 would also take place on Tuesday.
PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day
Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, 4 RBI, K (game-winner)
Pitcher of the Day
Aaron Rozek (Wichita): 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 34 pitches, 23 strikes (67.6%)
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. (By the way, we have a new Top 20 which will be unveiled here tomorrow.)
#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 3 K (played CF).
#4 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) – 0-for-4, K (played 2B)
#9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, 2B(18), RBI (played 3B)
#10 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-5, 4 RBI, GW RBI, K (played SS)
#12 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, R, K (played 1B)
#13 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 2 K (played LF)
#18 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) – 0-for-3 (catcher)
#19 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4, K (played 2B)
THURSDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
The Minnesota Twins have an off day on Thursday before heading back to Target Field to take on the Washington Nationals this weekend and the Boston Red Sox early next week.
Worcester @ St. Paul (DH at 5:07 PM CT) – RHP Darren McCaughan (5-3, 5.17 ERA), RHP Pierson Ohl (0-1, 3.44 ERA)
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CT) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 1.62 ERA)
Fort Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) – RHP Cole Peschl (4-1, 3.48 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (4:00 PM CT) – RHP Adrian Bohorquez (2-3, 5.13 ERA)
FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (DH @ 9:00 AM CT) – TBD
DSL Rangers @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CT) – TBD
CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 49-53
St. Paul Saints: 44-51
Wichita Wind Surge: 48-44
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 54-37
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 39-51
FCL Twins: 37-20
DSL Twins: 14-22
Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Wednesday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!
Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!