Twins Minor League Talk

Seth chats with Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long about his 2022 season, pitching for a winning team with several strong starters, goals for the season and so much more... 23 Questions, maybe? View full video

Royce Lewis played left field, the Wind Surge almost made an impressive comeback, and Jake Cave blasted a grand slam. If that doesn't excite you, then nothing will. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. 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. …

The Mighty Mussels were the only Twins affiliate to pick up a win on Friday and, for good measure, they decided to grab two. TRANSACTIONS RHP Jharel Cotton cleared waivers and accepted the assignment to St. Paul SAINTS SENTINEL Omaha 8, St. Paul 7 Box Score The Saints rallied late, scoring all seven of their runs after the first four innings, but were unable to overcome the Storm Chasers. Alex Kirilloff was one of the top performers for St. Paul, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and walk. He’s now picked up seven hits in his last 14 at-bats at Triple-A. Kevin Merrell produced the Saints’ best game offensively, going 2-for-4 with a home …

Take your pick with where your attention was going tonight on the farm for the Twins. Two top pitching prospects were on the bump, Royce Lewis returned to the Saints, Trevor Larnach was on a rehab assignment, and Cedar Rapids put up runs in bunches. There was a lot to be excited about. Transactions: RHP Jharel Cotton outrighted to St. Paul OF Trevor Larnach begins MLB rehab assignment with Wichita SAINTS SENTINEL Omaha 11, St. Paul 2 Box Score The storyline here was the return of Royce Lewis to the St. Paul lineup. He was leading off and playing shortstop, which is the position Minnesota had suggested they wanted him to get consistent …

St. Paul and Wichita each played extra-inning games. Fort Myers played a double-header. A top-seven pitcher made a start and was very solid. One player who desperately needed to show some power broke out of a slump in a significant way. A top-20 prospect delivered a walk-off homer. Read all about them and more in tonight’s Minor League Report. A couple of Twins affiliates played extra-inning games. Alex Kirilloff had his best game of the year. Louie Varland was outstanding once again. Noah Miller had a multi extra-base-hit day. And Spencer Steer has ice in his veins. In addition, we saw one Twins' top prospects continue to transition to his role as a starter m…

As we creep ever-so-slowly forward to the annual baseball draft, there are a few storylines that have taken a front seat. We finally have an answer to one of the draft’s biggest questions. We’ll cover that and more in this week’s update. We’ve been waiting since last July to find out what would happen to one-time-Mets-pick-turned-unsigned pitcher Kumar Rocker. We finally have an answer. Kumar Rocker will enter July’s draft after pitching in the Frontier League. Unsigned players going the Indy Ball route isn’t completely unheard of; so this isn’t a complete surprise. In fact, this was always considered to be the most likely of the avenues that Ro…

I have found myself really going through the last years draft and have become very impressed with the strategy and appreciate it more that I did when the draft occurred. We have a had a few months to acquaint ourselves with some of the players and see some performances. This is a developmental draft by far, and the performance of Cavaco is going to determine a lot how good of a draft 2019 was. Even still I really think the Twins are on to something with their draft style, get a lot of hitters in the first 6-7 rounds, a pitcher or two sprinkled in, and then draft pitchers in the rest of the early to mid rounds, that 1st have good body types and at least 1 good pitch…

The Twins have really had a lot of injuries and many of the prospects who were meant to be in St. Paul are now with the Twins, leaving the Saints a little short. They were swept on the road in Columbus. On the other side of the coin, the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels had a dominant week and swept the six-game series against Palm Beach, including a no-hitter. Cedar Rapids went 5-1 as well. Three of the Twins affiliates are currently in first place. Continue for much more detail. 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. …

In minor-league action on Tuesday night, a top pitching prospect was on the mound for Wichita looking to continue an impressive streak, but it was a monster effort from a hitter who led the team to a win in a shootout. In other action, a pair of affiliates struggled on offense, and in Florida the Mighty Mussels played a little more than usual, completing a suspended game from earlier in the month. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 1, Omaha 5 Box Score The Saints were unable to mount much offense on Tuesday, finishing the game with just three hits and four walks, while striking out 14 times as a team against the Storm Chasers in Omaha to open their ser…

The Twins had a series victory over the Guardians this weekend. The minor-league affiliates had a packed schedule with a doubleheader for the Saints, a canceled game due to weather for the Wind Surge, the Kernels maintaining the best record in the Midwest League, and the Mighty Mussels setting a new franchise record. TRANSACTIONS Following the Twins' game on Sunday, OF Mark Contreras was optioned to St. Paul. Presumably, Kyle Garlick will come off of the Injured List before the Monday series against the A's. SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1 St. Paul 3, Columbus 5 Box Score SP: Bailey Ober - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K HR: Jermaine Palacios (2) Multi…

You won’t find Brent Headrick on any prospect lists (for now) but it's time to start noticing and appreciating what he's doing at high-A Cedar Rapids. Consider this your introduction to the up-and-coming Twins prospect. Headrick was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 2019 draft out of Illinois State. Coming out of college, the southpaw had a 3.47 ERA striking out 115 batters over 96 innings pitched earning him Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. The college Junior signed with the Twins just a few days later and was assigned to the Elizabethton Twins for his first cup of coffee in Minor League Baseball. Like many, he was a victim to…

Bailey Ober was supposed to make his first rehab start, but rain stopped him from ever taking the mound on Saturday. However, the three teams that did play all won their games. Read all about that and more in this edition of the Minor League Report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Bailey Ober assigned to AAA St. Paul on Major League Rehab. OF Alex Kirilloff optioned to AAA St. Paul. LHP Devin Smeltzer contract selected by Minnesota Twins. IF Miguel Sano placed on 60-Day IL. RHP Blayne Enlow added to AA Wichita Saints Sentinel The Saints were rained out on Saturday. They will play a double-header against Columbus tomorrow with Bailey Ober taking the mound in gam…

Matthew Lenz chats with Cedar Rapids Kernels lefty Brent Headrick about his improvement early in the 2022 season. View full video

Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Blayne Enlow struck out six batters and did not issue a walk in 3 2/3 innings for Wichita in his Double-A debut. He recently returned from rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Tonight's video also includes highlights of Devin Smeltzer, Gio Urshela, Spencer Steer, Austin Martin, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Anthony Prato and more. View full video

While the Twins' top prospect was putting on an incredible display of his potential at Target Field, several lesser-known minor leaguers had very nice games on Friday as well. The Twins' top three affiliates all lost their Friday the 13th games, but Ft. Myers was able to sweep their doubleheader against Palm Beach. Check out the goings-on in the Twins minor leagues. Balazovic, Woods Richardson, and Povich were on the mound on Friday night, Friday the 13th. How did they do? Ft. Myers played two games and got terrific pitching in both games. Before jumping into how the teams did on Friday, here are a couple more minor league articles to check ou…

Twins fans have already seen numerous exciting MLB debuts from the organization’s top pitching prospects. There’s more on the way, and perhaps the best one resides in Double-A Wichita’s rotation. Matt Canterino has been dominant since the Twins drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2019 Draft. Canterino starred at Rice University, where they’re known to push their young arms. He pitched very well there, but his numbers pale compared to his production in the minors. Canterino has pitched 68 2/3 innings in the Twins system. He’s given up nine runs, which equates to a 1.18 ERA. He’s struck out 104 of the 259 hitters he’s faced, a 40% clip. He pairs a mid-to-…

Injuries. They’re always part of the pre-draft process. But this year feels different. It’s been big names. It’s been a lot of names. And they seem to be happening quite frequently. Before we get into any injury updates, I wanted to point out that Keith Law released his Top 100 late last week. (You need a subscription to The Athletic to view this list.) Out of respect to being behind a paywall, I’m only going to highlight where some players are ranked. One thing about Keith Law - love him or hate him - he’s ranking these players on his own and doing it with conviction. Law has Cam Collier, a 17-year-old junior college third baseman, ranked second overall…

Plenty of offensive firepower was on display tonight throughout the Twins farm system. Both the Wind Surge and Kernels put up double-digits with multi players having gaudy stat lines. Aaron Rozek was the standout arm and Cedar Rapids continued its torrid start to the season. Transactions: RHP Cole Sands added to Minnesota as 27th man OF Kennie Taylor promoted to Double-A Wichita OF Kyle Fedko promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids OF Luis Baez transferred to Single-A Fort Myers SAINTS SENTINEL Columbus 7, St. Paul 4 Box Score Jacob Faria made the start for the afternoon tilt today. St. Paul got four innings of work from thei…

On a night of severe weather in the Twin Cities, there was electricity throughout the Twins' farm system on Wednesday. From stellar pitching outings courtesy of the Saints and Mussels to offensive thunderstorms from Cedar Rapids, there were flurries of action across the farm. TRANSACTIONS Minnesota Twins selected the contract of RHP Yennier Cano from St. Paul Saints. SAINTS SENTINAL Box Score Columbus 6, St. Paul 5 (F/12) Despite a solid starting pitching outing and late-inning push, the Saints fell just short in extras to the Clippers on Wednesday night in Columbus. The Saints tallied three runs in the ninth inn…

Matt Wallner was a 1st round pick for the Minnesota Twins in the 2019 First Year Player Draft. Since joining the organization, the left-handed hitting outfielder keeps hitting. With an improved hard hit rate and walk rate in 2022, is he being overlooked by Twins fans? View full video

Since the delayed start of the 2022 major league season, the Twins have called up a host of players from their Triple A affiliate in St. Paul. Some guys like Gilberto Celestino, Trevor Larnach and (I guess) Kyle Garlick played little if at all for the Saints. Since then, top prospects Jose MIranda and Royce Lewis have been recalled. Yesterday, Jharel Cotton and Mark Contreras were recalled to the Twins. It was posted on this site (unofficially) that Cuban righty Yennier Cano will be recalled today. Looking at the box scores of the last couple days, I don't see much help available across the river in St. Paul. There are several pitchers with big league experience, but…

The story on the Minnesota Twins farm system Tuesday night was the pitching performance from the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. In a combined effort, including a standout start, they blanked their opponent for the fourth no-hitter in franchise history. TRANSACTIONS The Minnesota Twins selected the contracts of RHP Jharel Cotton and OF Mark Contreras in advance of their series opener with the Houston Astros. In Fort Myers, the Mighty Mussels placed RHP Logan Campbell on the 7-day injured list, and in a corresponding move activated RHP Niklas Rimmel. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Columbus 7 (12 innings) Box Score The…

Three of the Twins four full-season affiliates enter this week in first place in their division. This past week, there were some dominant offensive performances and also several impressive pitching performances. The numbers put up by this week's players of the week are incredible. Find out how the teams did, and which Twins minor leaguers had a great week on the field. The Twins have won 14 of their past 17 games. Some of the organization's top prospects have found their way to the big leagues and contributed. All the while, three affiliates find themselves in first place. As we all know, Player Development is the most important aspect of minor league baseball. How…

A bevy of promotions this week have left the St. Paul Saints offense without many of their key bats. Wichita and Fort Myers crush, Cedar Rapids gets popped. TRANSACTIONS SS Royce Lewis promoted to Minnesota Twins 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff activated from IL, promoted to Minnesota Twins RHP Cole Sands promoted to Minnesota Twins LHP Jovani Moran optioned to Triple-A St. Paul INF Kevin Merrell promoted to Triple-A St. Paul from Double-A Wichita SS Daniel Robertson placed on IL (concussion) SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 6, St. Paul 2 Box Score The Saints suddenly found themselves without multiple key members of their offen…

There were questions surrounding Austin Martin when the Twins acquired him. Many of those questions remain, so is it time to start worrying about Austin Martin? When the Blue Jays drafted Austin Martin fifth overall, some evaluators considered him the best player in the 2020 MLB Draft. His collegiate career was nothing short of amazing as he hit .368/.474/.532 (1.007). Martin also played multiple positions in college, so there was hope his athleticism would translate to his professional career and make him a versatile player. Because of the pandemic, Martin couldn’t make his pro debut until the 2021 season, but this didn’t stop the Blue Jays from being aggress…

The Twins completed a sweep of the Oakland A’s at home on Sunday to bring their record to 18-11 on the season. The Minor League affiliates had a busy schedule on Sunday as the Saints and Mighty Mussles saw lopsided scores, the Wind Surge played a double header, the Kernels had a low scoring victory that saw their stater’s best performance of the season. TRANSACTIONS Twins placed OF Trevor Larnach on the IL (right adductor strain) Twins recalled C Jose Godoy. OF Jake Cave was activated from the temporarily inactive list. C Roy Morales activated from the Development List and promoted to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Io…

Speed is a tool that can separate elite defenders and base stealers from the rest of the pack. Will these Twins prospects continue to be fast as they age? While prospects can improve other tools, speed is an area that tends to decline as players add more muscle and age. According to the 20-80 scouting scale, multiple players on the list below are currently faster than expected in the future. Here are the top-five speed tool prospects in the Twins organization. 5. Yasser Mercedes, OF Current Run/Future Run: 55/50 Minnesota signed Mercedes as part of the 2022 international signing period, where he ranked as one of the top prospects in the class. It’s easy to …

One important pitching prospect made his first start in a while, another made his AAA debut, and yet another one looked to continue his dominant beginning of the season. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Jordan Balazovic activated from the IL for the St. Paul Saints RHP Cole Sands optioned to the St. Paul Saints from the Minnesota Twins RHP Blayne Enlow assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on minor league rehab RHP Dylan Thomas was reinstated from the 7-day IL and released Saints Sentinel St. Paul 9, Iowa 2 Box Score Jordan Balazovic: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K HR: Kevin Merrell…

Back in 2016, the Minnesota Twins took a pitcher in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball draft. A 21-year-old out of the University of California, Ryan Mason pitched 49 innings in his pro debut. Now he’s knocking on the Twins door from St. Paul. A lackluster pro debut as a starting pitcher, Ryan Mason quickly made the jump to the bullpen. Dominating for Cedar Rapids in 2018, he repeated the strong numbers in 2019 when making it to Double-A Pensacola. While the missed season in 2020 helped no one, Mason didn’t let the non-existent game action deter his focus. Starting 2021 at Double-A Wichita, Minnesota’s newest affiliate, Mason repeated his outstanding …

I couldn’t find a place to put this so created a new thread. https://nypost.com/2022/05/07/supermom-raised-two-mlb-sons-tylor-megill-trevor-megill/