Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (Gabriel Gonzalez)

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Christian Becerra activated from 7-day IL (Fort Myers)
RHP Devin Kirby released (Fort Myers)
3B Caleb McNeely assigned to A Fort Myers
OF Blaze O’Saben assigned to A Fort Myers

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Omaha 2
Box Score
Simeon Woods Richardson: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: Matt Wallner (4)
Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3, 2 R, BB), Anthony Prato (3-for-3, R, RBI, BB)

The Saints cruised to a win on Wednesday

It was a day in which baseball was played, which means Matt Wallner hit a homer. International League pitchers keenly await his return to the bigs. Like the others before it, this one was no cheapie: the ball left Wallner’s bat at 108.8 MPH and landed 406 feet away. He is slugging .952 with the Saints.   

Simeon Woods Richardson commanded the ball well in yet another impressive outing with St. Paul. The righty followed up a six-inning one-run start on the 22nd with a six-inning two-run start on Wednesday in which he struck out five. He topped out at 94.9 MPH. 

The rest of St. Paul’s offense came off an Anthony Prato RBI single in the fourth, and a Mickey Gasper run-scoring knock in the sixth.

Travis Adams carried the game to its ending with three quality innings, striking out two while allowing just two baserunners.

The Storm Chasers are the AAA team for the Kansas City Royals, and employ the 10th-best prospect in baseball, Jac Caglianone. The human firecracker has obliterated minor league baseball in 2025; he’s slashing .326/.387/.599 after Wednesday. He doubled and singled twice in four at-bats on Wednesday.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, Tulsa 10 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Ricky Castro: 3 â…“ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Gabriel Gonzalez (4-for-4, 2 2B, R), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB)

Wichita fumbled in extra innings on Wednesday.

The opening frame—typically a genteel affair—was anything but. Ricky Castro allowed a double to the leadoff hitter, who later became a run when an infield tapper and subsequent error by Jorel Ortega ushered him home. A sacrifice fly soon brought the deficit to two.

A third-inning run portended an ugly three-score fourth that Castro would not escape. Singles, walks, steals, errors. No Driller dominated with damage; rather, they scrapped and bothered with gnat-like intensity. 

Then, something funny happened. Though they were down six runs, the Wind Surge gathered themselves and composed a seven-run frame. Ricardo Olivar doubled, then Kala’i Rosario doubled, then Jorel Ortega doubled. A Tyler Dearden grounder to push the inning to two outs hardly mattered. Jake Rucker singled and stole second, auguring three consecutive base on balls for Tanner Schobel, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Kyler Fedko. With the bases juiced, Rubel Cespedes unleashed a liner to right that brought all three runners home safely. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Cespedes; he was thrown out at second to end the inning. Still, the Wind Surge somehow held the lead.

That lead lasted two batters. The following half-inning, Driller John Rhodes homered on the first pitch he saw. So it goes.

Both teams shifted into neutral, watching the frames fade into each other as each scoring threat suffered the same muffled fate; no one scored for the rest of the game’s scheduled run time.

Things finally changed in the 10th, with Tulsa furiously plating a trio of runs. Exhausted and demoralized, Wichita fell without even plating their free runner.

Wichita swiped six bases on Wednesday, with five different players earning at least one steal.

The Drillers are affiliated with the Dodgers. Although they’ve often stood as the zenith in the organization’s powerful prospect factory, the best they could offer Wednesday was the team’s 25th-ranked player, Peter Heubeck. He allowed five runs across 3 ⅔ innings.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 1, Lake County 0 
Box Score
Jose Olivares: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
HR: Kaelen Culpepper (1)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels tossed a shutout on Wednesday.

Kaelen Culepper hit a lead-off homer. Thus concludes the game’s action. Cedar Rapids would go on to put just five more runners on base, while Lake County totaled the same. Only four runners reached second base; just once did a player greet the third baseman. It was a lonely day to be an infielder. 

Jose Olivares was the star of the pitching show, tossing five efficient innings with seven strikeouts. 46 of his 69 pitches went for strikes, a notable achievement given that the righty walked four men in two prior May outings, and entered the day with more free passes than innings in the month. Wednesday was a convincing rebuke of his previous command issues—and he put his team in an excellent position to win.

Jack Noble graced the mound next, offering a pair of scoreless frames in support of the shutout effort. Spencer Bengard arrived next, and, what, was he going to spoil the fun? Nope. He put up a 1-2-3 eighth to place the pressure on Jacob Wosinski. The Grand Rapids native surrendered a single, but erased that runner and concluded the game with ground ball double play.

Kyle DeBarge stole his 26th and 27th bases of the season. He leads the Midwest League.

The Lake County Captains are an affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. Their 6th-ranked prospect, 2023 first-rounder and DH Ralphy Velazquez, walked once and struck out twice in four plate appearances. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 8
Box Score
Dylan Questad: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Payton Eeles (2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI)

A five-run fifth blew up Fort Myers’ chances of winning on Wednesday.

Dylan Questad didn’t receive much help, but he also did it to himself. The righty walked four in a five-run/three-earned outing that saw him fail to exit to fourth. The worst of it was in the third when Konnor Griffin stole second and advanced to third off a throwing error by Jefferson Valladares. He eventually scored. Then, wouldn’t you know it, the same exact thing happened the following inning, this time with Eddy Rodriguez as the beneficiary of Valladares’ wildness. That’s in part how Questad could allow five runs without giving up a hit with a runner in scoring position.

The totality of Fort Myers’ offense on Wednesday was tepid but focused enough to plate a respectable five runs. They scored their first run off a Daniel Pena RBI double in the fourth and touched home once more with a fielder’s choice. In the fifth, Valladares worked to make up for his mistakes with an RBI double; he later scored when Payton Eeles called him home with a double of his own. 

Their final run came in the eighth thanks to Angel Del Rosario taking the hero’s journey around the bases with no help needed by his teammates. He singled on a bunt before swiping second and third in the same at-bat. Perhaps irked by the pest, Bradenton catcher Axiel Plaz attempted to pick him off but sent the ball sailing into no-man’s land. Del Rosario scampered home unscathed.

Angel Del Rosario’s 20 steals are the 2nd-most in the Florida State League.

Rehabbing minor leaguer Payton Eeles played shortstop and went 2-for-3 with an RBI double.

The aforementioned Griffin was a 2024 first-round draftee and is currently the 37th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Olivares
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Gabriel Gonzalez

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) – 0-3, R, 2 K
#6 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, K
#9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) – 0-2, BB, 2 K
#11 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, 3 K
#14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) – 4-4, 2 2B, R
#17 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-4, R, BB
#19 – Carson McCusker (Minnesota) – 1-1 (first MLB hit)
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) – 1-5, 2B

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM) – RHP David Festa
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM) – RHP Darren Bowen
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) – RHP Cole Peschl
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM) – RHP Eli Jones
FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (11:00 AM) – TBD

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