St. Paul – The Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A catching depth has been tested this season. Diego Cartaya was 2-for-32 with 23 strikeouts in his first 10 games of the season before they put him on the development list for a month, and Jair Camargo has battled injuries and is on the 7-day IL with a right forearm strain.

Even with Cartaya returning from the development list last week, the Saints’ catching depth is rapidly thinning. Fortunately, with their first two catchers this season out of commission, Mickey Gasper has stepped up in the role with his current stint in Triple-A.

Then there’s Patrick Winkel. He spent all of 2024 in St. Paul and had a .228/.279/.362 slash line in 78 games at the plate last season. The Saints started with Camargo and Cartaya at the beginning of the year, and Winkel didn’t even play in his first game until April 18.

“There was a little bit of a low of not doing a ton at the beginning of the season,” said Winkel. “But I just told myself every day that the preparations were going to pay off eventually.”

Winkel became more productive once he got regular playing time, posting a .281/.324/.531 slash line with four home runs and nine RBI in 68 plate appearances. Winkel’s improvements at the plate didn’t come from tinkering with his swing. Instead, he focused on what made it a strength at Double-A in 2023 and honed in on those skills again.

“I kind of went back to my roots and went back to the natural way that my body wanted to move, and went into the off-season with no idea of what my swing was going to look like,” Winkel said. “Or what my stance was going to look like, and just kind of let it figure itself out. Then I used spring training to confirm that what I was doing was right.”

Winkel spent some of his spring training as a non-roster invitee in Minnesota’s big-league camp. He also worked with his hitting coach for three years running, Shawn Schlechter, to get back to the basics of what they were working on together in 2023.

“This off-season, he worked really hard in finding some of those moves, in finding the setup, and I think it’s freed up his ability to be able to rotate and use the ground well,” said Schlechter. “So I think it’s helped him deliver the barrel; we’ve seen some better ball flight to the opposite field.”

“He’s had some really good swings, and all the credit goes to him on this one,” said Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. “Because early in the year, you can either keep coming to work every day and just wait your turn. And then when you get it, go out there and play, or you can kind of fold, and we see both sides of that. But Wink has been ready the entire time, and when he gets his chances, he’s done great.”

Missing out on playing time impacts how catchers can perform on the plate. Still, they must keep themselves involved in bullpens with starters and work in the bullpen during games. Winkel did all he could to keep himself involved in every bullpen session while he was on the bench, and it has benefited how his tandem with the Saints’ pitching depth has played out.

“Some guys don’t like catching pens, but I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m not going to get a lot of reps in the game, let’s treat the pens as realistically as possible,’” said Winkel. “Don’t just get there and catch the ball, let’s try to get better receiving, let’s try to block everything we can, do some transfers, stuff like that.”

Winkel has accomplished a lot in 18 games this season behind the dish. His home run on Tuesday night was a rally starter for the Saints. He tied the game against the Rail Riders, 5-5, in the bottom of the third after Simeon Woods Richardson allowed five runs in the top half of the inning.

Despite St. Paul’s 8-5 loss on Tuesday, the best part about hitting the home run in Tuesday’s game was doing it in front of his mom, two aunts, and uncle, who came out from the East Coast to see him play this week. It’s a special moment for Winkel, given how infrequently he’s seen his aunts and uncle in recent years, and he’s hoping to make the most of his playing time while they’re in town to see him play.

“It’s the first time they’ve come,” he said. “They came to spring training, it was my mom, my two aunts, and my uncle are here. My mom was down in spring training, my aunts and uncle, I haven’t seen them in a while, so it’s good to have them here. Hopefully, we can hit a few more home runs and send them home happy.”