Twins Minor League Week in Review (5/10-5/16):

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. 

But this week at Twins Daily, we have had a lot of minor-league coverage. As players are starting to step up and put together strong seasons, we want to dig into them a little further, so you'll find a lot this week. 

If you missed it, read Nick's Twins Week in Review after you've read about the minor league week.

TRANSACTIONS 
With no Monday Minor League Report, here are the transactions from later on Sunday and on Monday. 

• Following Sunday's Twins game, OF Mark Contreras was optioned to St. Paul. 
• OF Kyle Garlick was activated from the Injured List. 
• RHP Ryan Shreve has been activated from the IL by Cedar Rapids. 
• RHP David Festa was promoted from Ft. Myers to Cedar Rapids. 
• RHP Matt Mullenbach was sent back to the Florida Complex. 

RESULTS

• Previous Week in Review (5/3-5/9): Wallner, Miller, Steer, Headrick, Stankiewicz Star 
• Tuesday: Mighty Mussels No-Hitter! 
• Wednesday: Gonzalez Dominates, Kernels Shuck the Opposition 
• Thursday: Kernels Krush, Wichita Rakes 
• Friday: Mighty Mussels Sweep, Fedko Homers in Kernels Debut 
• Saturday: A Denied Rehab Start and a Clean Franchise Sweep 
• Sunday: Mussels Sweep! Kernels Keep Winning! 

MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT 

• Prospect Retrospective: OF Mark Contreras 
• Prospect Retrospective: RHP Yennier Cano 
• “It felt great.” Balazovic Reflects on First Start of 2022 and What’s Ahead 
• Matt Canterino Continues to Dominate Minor League Hitters 
• It’s Time to Start Noticing Brent Headrick 
• From Lee to Limestone: One Prospect Who Needs More Attention (Video) 
• From Lee to Limestone: Three Questions with Brent Headrick (Video) 

WEEK IN REVIEW 

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: 
Week: 0-6, at Columbus  
Season: 15-19 overall, 9th place out of ten teams in the International League West. They are 8.0 games behind Nashville. A week ago, they were in third place. 

The Saints were swept in a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, and that finished out a six-game sweep at the hands of the Columbus Clippers. It was also the Saints' seventh straight loss. It was also their eighth straight loss on the road. In his series, the Saints lost three times by one run, and once by two, three, and four runs. Three of the games went to extra innings. The Saints scored 30 runs last week, but they gave up 41 runs.  

• Caleb Hamilton played in all six games. The utility man went 9-for-18 and hit .500/.609/.667 (1.276) with a home run. He also walked five times. 
• Alex Kirilloff returned to the Saints on Sunday and had two hits in both games of the doubleheader. 
• Chi Chi Gonzalez made one start and tossed six scoreless, hitless innings. He did walk four batters, but he struck out seven batters. He was named the International League's pitcher of the week. 

What’s Next? The Saints travel to Omaha to take on the Storm Chasers.  

Pitching Probables (RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, RHP Jake Faria, RHP Jordan Balazovic, RHP Mario Sanchez, RHP Dereck Rodriguez, RHP Ronny Henriquez) 

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge 
Week: 3-2, @ NW Arkansas   
Season: 19-12 overall, 1st place in the Texas League North Division with Tulsa. They are just 1/2 game ahead of Tulsa (19-13).  

The Wind Surge were outscored 25-27 on the week but managed to take a 3-2 series win. Sunday’s game was rained out and officially canceled. Why canceled instead of postponed? The two teams are not scheduled to play each other again in the season’s first half so there is no opportunity to make it up. 

Here are some of the top performances for the Wind Surge this past week: 

• Matt Canterino continues to dominate hitters in the Texas League. In his outing this week, he tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck out six batters without issuing a walk. 
• Austin Schulfer pitched twice and recorded a save each time. In four innings, he gave up one earned run on three hits. He struck out six batters. 
• Maybe not a great performance, but Blayne Enlow made his return to the mound (not in a rehab outing) 11 months after Tommy John surgery. That is a highlight! He went 3 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He struck out six batters and issued no walks.
• It took him a while to get his first hit, but in four games this past week, Leobaldo Cabrera went 3-for-9 with two home runs.

 Andrew Bechtold played four games. He went 6-for-15 (.400) with four doubles and a home run. 

• Alex Isola went 5-for-15 (.333) with three walks and a home run. 
• Spencer Steer went 4-for-20 (.200), but two of the hits were home runs. 
• Edouard Julien went 3-for-14 (.214), but he walked ten times for a .542 on-base percentage.  

What’s Next? The Wind Surge will be hosting the Springfield Cardinals. 

Pitching Probables (RHP Matt Canterino, RHP Louie Varland, RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Blayne Enlow, RHP Casey Legumina, RHP Matt Canterino)    

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: 
Week: 5-1, at Peoria 
Season: 24-9 overall, 1st place in the Midwest League West Division, 2.0 games ahead of Wisconsin (22-11), who also went 5-1 last week as well.

In April, the Kernels hosted Peoria and won five of six games. This past week, they did it again, this time on the road in Peoria. The Kernels outscored the Chiefs 47-12. In four of the six games, Cedar Rapids gave up just one run. Of 17 pitchers who pitched in at least one game last week, 13 of them didn’t allow an earned run.  

• What a week of pitching for the Kernels. Over the first five games of the week, the team allowed just nine total runs, and only five of them were earned. 
• Brent Headrick continues to impress. The lefty struck out seven batters over five scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked none. 
• Fellow lefty Aaron Rozek also tossed five scoreless innings in his start. He gave up three hits, walked none, and struck out nine batters. 
• Sawyer Gipson-Long went five scoreless innings in his start. He gave up two hits, walked none, and struck out seven batters. 
• Sean Mooney gave up an unearned run over five innings in his start. He gave up five hits and struck out four batters without allowing a walk. 
• John Stankiewicz started on Sunday and gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out five batters.
• Cody Laweryson came out of the bullpen twice. In five innings, he gave up only an unearned run on one hit and no walks. He struck out five batters.
• As pointed out above, the Kernels bats showed up too. Alerick Soularie led the way. In five games, he went 6-for-19 and hit .316/.409/.842 (1.251) with two triples, two homers, and seven RBI. He also walked three times and stole two bases. 
• Will Holland played in four games. He went 5-for-14 and hit .357/.438/.714 (1.152) with a triple and a home run. 
• Jair Camargo played in three games and went 5-for-14 (.357) with two home runs and five RBI. 
• Wander Javier played in five games and went 4-for-19. He hit .211/.318/.526 (.844) with two home runs and five RBI.   

What’s Next? The Kernels will be starting a 12-game homestand starting on Tuesday with six games against Lake County. 

Pitching Probables (RHP Sean Mooney, LHP Aaron Rozek, LHP Cade Povich, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long, RHP John Stankiewicz, LHP Brent Headrick)   

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels
Week: 6-0, hosting Palm Beach 
Season: 20-10 overall, 1st place in the Florida State League West, 2.0 games ahead of Clearwater (18-12). 

For the first time, the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels swept a six-game series. Why? As usual, it all comes down to pitching. 16 pitchers threw for Ft. Myers during the week. 12 of them didn’t allow a run (earned or unearned). In six games, the pitchers allowed a total of six runs. The team threw shutouts in the first three games of the series and again on Sunday. Of course, the highlight of the week was the combined no-hitter. The Mussels offense was solid too. They scored 28 runs. 

• David Festa struck out 11 batters over six innings in his start this week. He walked two batters, but he gave up no hits. Jaylen Nowlin and Hunter McMahon completed the final three innings of the no-hitter. 

• Travis Adams had another very good start. In five shutout innings, he gave up two hits, walked two, and struck out six batters. 
• Marco Raya made the start on Sunday. He tossed four no-hit innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. 
• Matthew Swain pitched two and recorded two saves. In two innings, he gave up one hit, no walks, and struck out five batters. 
• Malik Barrington struck out ten batters over four innings over his two relief appearances. He recorded his first save on Sunday. He gave up just three hits and one walk on the week. 
• Hunter McMahon threw four scoreless innings over two games. He recorded one save. He gave up three hits, walked one, and recorded two strikeouts. 
• Jaylen Nowlin worked five total innings during the week. He did not allow a run. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one, and struck out seven batters. 
• Mike Paredes made a spot start and tossed three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. 
• The offense was good too, and this week they were led by infielder Mikey Perez. In five games, he went 8-for-18 and hit .444/.524/.944 (1.468) with three doubles and two home runs. He also went 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. 
• Emmanuel Rodriguez had a strong week. He played all six games and went 8-for-19. He hit .421/.542/.579 (1.121) with a double, and a triple. He also walked four times. 
• Catcher Dillon Tatum played in four games and went 3-for-3. He had a home run and walked four times. Oh, and he caught a no-hitter. 
• Jake Rucker played in six games. He went 8-for-23 and hit .348/.400/.478 (.878) with three doubles. 
• Noah Miller hit .308 (4-for-13) with seven walks for a .550 on-base percentage. 

What’s Next? The Mighty Mussels will head to Clearwater for a big, eight-game series against the Threshers. They will play two games on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The beauty of rainouts in Florida, eh? 

Pitching Probables
Tuesday: Bullpen to complete suspended game. RHP Travis Adams in the regular game. 
Wednesday: RHP Pierson Ohl, RHP Mike Paredes
Thursday: No Game
Friday: LHP Steve Hajjar, Bullpen Game 
Saturday: Marco Raya
Sunday: TBD 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week. You may have noticed, the Prospect Tracker has been updated, and will be updated on the first of each month throughout the season.  

#1 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 3 G, 3-for-12 (.250), 2-2B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K (Season: 24 G, .310/.430/.563 (.993), 11-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 21 R, 11 RBI, 17 BB, 20 K)
#1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 6 G, 6-for-22 (.273), 1-2B, 1-HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K (Season: 9 G, .281/.281/.438 (.719), 2-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K) 
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 5 G, 6-for-23 (.261), 0-2B, 1-3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K (Season: 30 G, .246/.366/.339 (.705), 6-2B, 1-3B, 1-HR, 23 R, 10 RBI, 17 BB, 20 K, 17 SB, 0 CS)
#3 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 2 GS, 10.0 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 5 BB, 8 K (Season: 7 GS, 37.2 IP, 10 R, 24 H, 12 BB, 36 K, 4-2, 2.39 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 8.6 K/9)
#4 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 5 G, 6-for-18 (.333), 2-2B, 1-HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1K (Season: 21 G, .256/.295/.442 (.737), 10-2B, 2-HR, 10 R, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 14 K)
#4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - Week: 4 G, 1-for-18 (.056), 0-2B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 6 K (Season: 11 G, .114/.152/.227 (.379), 2-2B, 1-HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K)
#5 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 2.0 IP, 7 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K  (Season: 2 GS, 5.2 IP, 7 R, 3 ER, 13 H, 4 BB, 5 K.

#6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5.2 IP,  4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K (Season: 6 GS, 32.2 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 17 H, 9 BB, 32 K, 2-1, 2.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 8.8 K/9)
#7 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 3.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K  (Season: 6 G, 3 GS, 25.2 IP, 9 R, 7 ER, 18 H, 7 BB, 22 K, 2-1, 2.45 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 7.7 K/9)
#8 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 2 G, 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K  (Season: 12 G, 16.2 IP, 6 R, 10 H, 3 BB, 25 K, 0-1, 2 Saves, 3.24 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 1.6 BB/9, 13.5 K/9)
#9 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K (Season: 7 GS, 20.2 IP, 3 R, 9 H, 11 BB, 28 K, 0-1, 1.31 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9, 12.2 K/9)
#10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 6 G, 8-for-19 (.421) , 1-2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 6 K (Season: 28 G, .270/.468/.506 (.974), 4-2B, 1-3B, 5-HR, 22 R, 14 RBI, 31 BB, 34 K)

#11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 4-for-13 (.308), 0-2B, 0-HR, 7 BB, 4 K (Season: 27 G, .278/.431/.361 (.792), 3-2B, 1-3B, 1 HR, 19 R, 6 RBI, 24 BB, 32 K)
#12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 K  (Season: 6 G, 5 GS, 31.2 IP, 16 R, 13 ER, 25 H, 11 BB, 35 K, 4-1, 3.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, 9.9 K/9)
#13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 5 G, 4 GS, 15.2 IP, 15 R, 22 H, 5 BB, 18 K, 0-4, 8.62 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.3 K/9)
#13 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 1 G, 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K (Season: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9) 
#14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K (Season: 4 G, 3 GS, 13.2 IP, 7 R, 12 H, 7 BB, 13 K, 0-1, 4.61 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 4.6 BB/9, 8.6 K/9)
#15 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, (Season: 5 G, 4 GS, 19.0 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 11 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2-1, 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 9.9 K/9)  

#16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 5 G, 4-for-20 (.200), 0-2B, 2-HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K (Season: 30 G, .300/.384/.558 (.942), 11-2B, 1-3B, 6-HR, 22 R, 25 RBI, 13 BB, 22 K)
#17 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 3.1 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K (Season: 5 GS, 22.1 IP, 14 R, 10 ER, 22 H, 6 BB, 32 K, 2-2, 4.03 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 12.9 K/9) 
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 6 G, 6-for-26 (.231), 1-2B, 1-3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 31 G, .336/.396/.536 (.932), 6-2B, 2-3B, 5-HR, 19 R, 29 RBI, 12 BB, 34 K)
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 5 G, 3-for-14 (.214), 0-2B, 0-HR, 10 BB, 5 K (Season: 22 G, .268/.432/.394 (.826), 4-2B, 1-3B, 1-HR, 14 R, 10 RBI, 22 BB, 20 K)
#20 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - Week/Season: 1 GS, 3.2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 0-0, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 0.00 BB/9, 14.7 K/9)  

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK 

Hitter of the Week: Infielder Mikey Perez, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels 

Finally finding his name in the lineup nearly every day sure did wonders for Mikey Perez. Last week, he played in five games. He went 8-for-18 and hit .444/.524/.944 (1.468) with three doubles, two homers, and six RBI. He walked twice, and he went 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. 

On the season, he has played in 23 games. He is 18-for-73 and hitting .247/.382/.452 (.834) with six doubles, three homers, and 13 RBI. He is also 8-for-9 on stolen base attempts. 

Perez was the Twins 15th round pick in 2021 out of UCLA where his mom is one of the top college softball coaches in the country. Perez can play all over the field, but he has played mostly at second base in college and so far as a pro. He’s played some third base as well. He also is a solid shortstop, though with Noah Miller getting most of the playing time there.

Pitcher of the Week: RHP David Festa, Ft. Myers Might Mussels 

David Festa worked the first six innings of the Mighty Mussels combined no-hitter this week. In those six innings, he walked two batters and struck out 11 batters. 

Festa was the Twins 13th round pick in 2021 out of Seton Hall University. As a junior, he went 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA. After signing, he pitched in two FCL games and two games with the Mighty Mussels. He impressed at Instructs by posting some impressive velocities on his fastball and slider. 

Through his first five starts of 2022, he is now 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA. In 24 innings, he has struck out 33 batters and walked just six batters. In his most recent start, he hit 99.1 mph. He not only should rocket up prospect rankings, but it’s very possible he moves up to Cedar Rapids in the near future.

On Monday, Festa was promoted to Cedar Rapids. 

Feel free to ask questions or leave comments on the teams and players.