Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

Last month, Cason McCusker took top honors with Kyler Fedko, Jay Thomason, Nate Baez and Ryan Fitzgerald also garnering consideration. While all five of those hitters also had strong performances in the month of May, a new name has emerged to take the top spot.

Honorable mentions: Khadim Diaw, Carson McCusker, Emmanuel Rodriguez

This trio would have cracked the top five but they lacked playing time compared to their counterparts. Diaw hit .339/.457/.663 (1.011 OPS) in 70 plate appearances for Cedar Rapids before being placed on the IL with a fractured thumb. McCusker earned his first promotion to the majors after hitting .362/.406/.603 (1.010 OPS) in 64 May plate appearances with St. Paul. Rodriguez bounced back from a poor start to the season to post a .439 OBP while slugging .517 in 82 plate appearances for the Saints.

Those are excellent performances from guys who couldn’t crack the top five! Let’s get into this month’s top hitters across the system.

5) Nate Baez, Cedar Rapids
333/.475/.462 (.937 OPS), 16.8 K%, 21.8 BB%, 2 HR, 0 SB, 101 PA

Baez drew a system-high 22 walks in May while only striking out 17 times in 101 plate appearances. Add in the fact that he also hit .333 and Baez boasted an amazing .475 on-base percentage for the month. Compared to the other hitters on this list, his power output was lacking (.462 slugging percentage), but there wasn’t a hitter consistently making more positive contributions than Baez in May.

Baez, who was drafted in the 12th round in 2022, also turned 24-years-old this month. Considering how outstanding he’s been so far this year, you’d have to figure he’s on the verge of a promotion up to Wichita. On the season, he’s made 20 starts at first base, 12 at catcher and five starts as the designated hitter.

4) Mickey Gasper, St. Paul
348/.437/.663 (1.100 OPS), 17.5 K%, 12.6 BB%, 7 HR, 1 SB, 103 PA

Put Gasper in a Saints uniform and he transforms into the Sultan of Swat. He hit seven home runs in 22 games for St. Paul, slugging an eye-popping .663 for the month. This much power coming from a guy who is also so great at making contact is a sight to see. Gasper has nine home runs in 27 games with the Saints this year, but entered 2025 with nine homers in 70 career Triple-A games.

Like Baez, Gasper is also catching some while mixing in at other positions. During his time with the Saints, Mickey has started eight games at catcher, seven at second base, four at first base, two in left field and has DHed six times. With the Twins lineup returning to health, it’s going to be difficult for Gasper to find more opportunities on the big club. Still, he’s been a blast to watch at CHS Field. 

3) Kaelen Culpepper, Cedar Rapids
.302/.413/.491 (.903 OPS), 18.3 K%, 12.7 BB%, 5 HR, 11 SB, 126 PA

Culpepper’s play of late has him ricketing up prospect lists. A big part of that is due to how competent he’s looking at shortstop, but he also flexed his muscles at the plate in May. KC hit five home runs for the month and was an on-base machine, posting a .413 OBP. To top it all off, he even swiped 11 bases. 

Health is considered by some as the sixth tool for prospects. I think most Twins fans could get on board with that idea. Well, another plus to Culpepper’s month is he led the system in plate appearances. Add that to the fact that he’s looking like he’ll stick at short and hit for power — two things that were considered major question marks at the time of the draft — and Culpepper is really coming into his own here early in his first full professional season. You love to see it.

2) Tanner Schobel, Wichita
.321/.387/.541 (.928 OPS), 12.9 K%, 8.9 BB%, 5 HR, 6 SB, 124 PA

Double A is a real test and, to be frank, Schobel failed his first two semesters. But after posting a sub-.640 OPS for Wichita in both 2023 and 2024, something has clicked. Schobel is back to looking like the hitter he was with Cedar Rapids early in the 2023 season. 

After posting a respectable .752 OPS in April, Schobel broke out and hit .321 with a .928 OPS last month. He slugged .541 with five home runs and didn’t have to sacrifice his typical contact-focused approach to do it. In a league where the strikeout rate is 24%, Schobel posted a 12.9 K%. He also led the system with 25 runs scored in May and his 35 hits were one off the lead.

So, is Schobel back? Maybe it’s too early to go that far, but he’s finally passing the test in Double A. After 219 games at the level, perhaps it’s time for a new assignment.

1) Gabriel Gonzalez, Cedar Rapids/Wichita
.364/.416/.586 (1.002 OPS), 15.9 K%, 8.0 BB%, 3 HR, 1 SB, 113 PA

Gonzalez’s stock has fallen quite a bit since MLB.com had him ranked as the No. 79 overall prospect in baseball prior to the 2024 season. He came over to the Twins as the centerpiece of the Jorge Polanco trade and had a disappointing first year in the org. This year, he looks like a new man.

The Twins decided to keep things familiar for Gonzalez to start this season, and that appears to be paying dividends. Changing orgs isn’t always easy for guys. After so much change in 2024, Gonzalez was able to open this year at a familiar place, back in Cedar Rapids. After posting a .907 OPS in 34 games, he earned a promotion to Double A on May 19.

Again, Double A is a real test. Other than the jump from Triple A to the majors, I think it’s the most challenging jump a player makes along the ladder up through their career. It’s early, but Gonzalez is crushing it. He’s hit even better for Wichita than he was for the Kernels, posting a .364/.440/.523 line (.963 OPS) in his first 11 games for the Wind Surge.

Combining his performance at both levels for the month, Gonzalez hit an impressive .364/.416/.586 (1.002 OPS) and I don’t think the smile left his face all month. He had a system-high 36 hits in May and his 18 RBIs were one back of system leader Kyler Fedko on the month. 

So congrats to Gonzalez and the rest of these hitters on their marvelous months of May. What’s especially striking about this handful of prospects isn’t just how productive they’ve been, it’s also how much contact they’re making. Not a single one of them is even sniffing a 20 K%.

Thanks for reading and make sure to check back to see if any of these hitters make next month’s list.

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