Twins Minor league Week in Review (5/31-6/6): Another No-No, and Huge Offensive Performances

In the past, the beginning of the short-season, rookie leagues was right near the time of the MLB Draft. However, now that the draft has been pushed back to July, Opening Day of the short-season leagues came up in a hurry. On Monday, the Florida Complex League and the Dominican Summer League seasons began. At Twins Daily, we will be providing reports on those teams in our daily Minor League Reports. Below you can see how the two Twins affiliates played on Monday. 

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: 

• RHP Ian Hamilton, RHP Jharel Cotton and OF Mark Contreras back to St. Paul. 
• IF Daniel Robertson began rehab stint with FCL Twins. 
• Twins signed RHP Aaron Sanchez to minor-league deal and assigned him to St. Paul.
• IF Ernie Yake was placed on the Wichita Injured List.  

RESULTS

• Previous Week in Review (5/24-5/30):Mighty Mussels Out-Muscle Marauders  
• Tuesday: Another No-No in Ft. Myers and Stranger Things for St. Paul 
• Wednesday: Offensive Fireworks in Cedar Rapids and Emmanuel Rodriguez is On Fire 
• Thursday: Rodriguez Rakes as Mussels Mount Comeback 
• Friday: Prato Paces the Kernels, Strong Pitching Turned In 
• Saturday: Alerick Soularie Hits For the Cycle! Wind Surge Win in Walk-off! 
• Sunday: Steer, Kirilloff, Hamilton Power Home Run Record for Saints 

MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT 

• Prospect Retrospective: Jermaine Palacios 
• Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month - May 2022
• Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - May 2022 
• Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month - May 2022 
• Reviewing the Jose Berrios Trade 

SHORT-SEASON RESULTS  
It was opening day in the short-season leagues on Monday as both the Dominican Summer League Twins and the Florida Complex League Twins played the first game of their seasons. We are going to include these teams in our daily Minor League Reports. 

FCL Twins 2, FCL Pirates 7 
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Develson Aria (3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K)
Multi-Hit Games: Alexander Pena (2-for-2, R, 2 RBI), Ismael Perez (2-for-3, R, SB) 
2B: Alexander Pena (1) 
HR: Alexander Pena (1)
Rehab Players: Daniel Robertson (0-for-2, K) 
Top Prospects: Danny De Andrade (0-for-4), Fredy Michel (0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K, SB).     

DSL Twins 5, DSL Rockies 6
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Julio Bonilla (3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K)
Multi-Hit Games: Anderson Nova (2-for-4, RBI, K), Daniel Pena (2-for-4, R, RBI, K), Javier Roman (2-for-2, HBP)
XBH: None. 
Top Prospects: Bryan Acuna (0-4)    

WEEK IN REVIEW 

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: 
Week: 4-2, @ Iowa  
Season: 24-29 overall, 9th place out of ten teams in the International League West. They are 10 games behind Nashville. 

After putting up 49 runs in seven games the previous week, the Saints scored 57 runs in six games. Three times the Saints scored more than a dozen runs in a game. The Saints pitching staff gave up 50 runs in seven games the previous week. Last week, they gave up 41 runs in the six games. The Saints hit 18 home runs including a franchise-record seven homers on Sunday afternoon. Seven hitters had an OPS over .960. It was a good week for the Saints, and now they head home to take on the former Twins Triple-A affiliate, the best team in the whole International League. Get your tickets here! 

• Alex Kirilloff was named the Twins Minor League Player of the Week and the International League Hitter of the Week. In four games, he went 8-for-17 and hit .471/.571/1.353 (1.924) with three doubles, four homers, and eight RBI. He walked four times with just three strikeouts. 
• Caleb Hamilton played in three games and went 4-for-8. He hit .500/.667/1.375 (2.042) with a double, two home runs, and six RBI. He also had four walks. 
• Tim Beckham finally made his way to St. Paul. He played in four games and went 8-for-17. He hit .471/.526/.882 (1.408) with a double, two homers, and seven RBI. 
• Spencer Steer was one of two Saints to play in all six games. He went 7-for-30 and hit .233/.303/.700 (1.003) with two doubles, four homers, and 11 RBI. 

• Jake Cave played in five games and went 8-for-22. He hit .364/.440/.682 (1.122) with two doubles, a triple, a homer, and three RBI. 
• Elliot Soto went 4-for-16 in five games. He hit .250/.400/.563 (.963) with two doubles and a home run. He also walked four times. 
• Michael Helman was the second Saint who played in all six games. He went 7-for-26 and hit .269/.367/.462 (.829) with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. 
• The best start for a Saints pitcher last week came from Mario Sanchez. He gave up two runs on five hits over an impressive 7 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two and deserves bonus points from the whole team and front office for getting through that many innings. 
• Tyler Viza pitched in three games, and finished two of them. He gave up one run on two hits over five innings. He struck out six batters without a walk. 
• Austin Schulfer worked 3 2/3 innings over two appearances. He allowed an unearned run on two hits. He walked two and struck out four batters.  

What’s Next? #OldFriend ALERT! The Rochester Red Wings, the long-time Twins Triple-A affiliate, will be making their first appearance at CHS FIeld to take on the Saints this week. The 35-19 Red Wings are managed by former Twins C/DH Matthew LeCroy. 

Pitching Probables (RHP Daniel Gossett, RHP Aaron Sanchez,  RHP Ronny Henriquez, TBD, TBD, TBD) 

 Double-A Wichita Wind Surge 
Week: 4-2, hosting Frisco     
Season: 30-19 overall, 1st place in the Texas League North Division. They remain just 1 1/2 game ahead of Tulsa (28-20).   

The Wind Surge continue to win and find different ways to do it. Sometimes they score. Sometimes they pitch. This week, the games were mostly low scoring, but Wichita had another winning week. Over the six games, they outscored Frisco 23-17. The pitching staff was fantastic. They gave up more than three runs only once during the week. 

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

• Matt Canterino tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked four and struck out four. 
• Steven Cruz and Osiris German each pitched twice and worked 3 1/3 innings. German gave up just one hit and struck out five batters. Cruz gave up two unearned runs and struck out four batters. 
• Kody Funderburk pitched twice, including one start. In six innings, he gave up just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six bases. 
• Matt Wallner played in all six games. He went 8-for-22 and hit .364/.417/.545 (.962) with a double and a home run. He stole two bases. 

• Jair Camargo played in three games before going on the IL. He went 3-for-12 (.250) with a double, two homers and five RBI. Likewise, Alex Isola went on the IL after just one game last week. He had a double and a homer, and he walked once. 

• Chris Williams had just three hits and batted .188, but he had a double and two homers. 
• 2021 draft pick Ernie Yake went 3-for-9 (.333) and hit two doubles, including a huge bases-clearing double on Sunday against Frisco. 

What’s Next? The Wind Surge travel to Arkansas for six games against the Mariners’ affiliate. The Travelers are 27-24 and in third place in the North Division.  

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

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels 
Week: 4-2, @ Lansing   
Season: 33-18 overall, 1st place in the Midwest League West Division, 2.0 games ahead of Wisconsin (31-20). They are 5.0 games ahead of South Bend (28-23).   

In the first half of the week, the Kernels went 1-2, though their win was by a score of 10-2. They went on to win the final three games of the series and scored eight or more runs in each game. Overall, they outscored the Lugnuts 39-28 and were able to increase their division lead by a game. Several Kernels’ hitters had big weeks. Pitching wasn’t quite as strong, but you just have to see what Sean Mooney did.   

• Alerick Soularie has had a tough start to his 2022 season, but he had a big week last week. In five games, he went 6-for-17 and hit .353/.560/.882 (1.442) with a double, a triple, two homers, and six RBI. He also walked eight times. He hit for the cycle on Saturday. 
• Aaron Sabato was named the Midwest League Hitter of the Week. He played in five games and went 8-for-16. He hit .500/.619/.813 (1.432) with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI. He also walked four times. 
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand played in all six games. He went 8-for-27 and hit .296/.387/.704 (1.091) with five doubles, two homers, and four RBI. 
• Yunior Severino returned to the field from the IL. In four games, he went 6-for-16 and hit .375/.474/.563 (.1.037) with a double and a triple. He also walked three times. 
• Anthony Prato played in three games for the Kernels before being promoted to Wichita. In that time, he went 4-for-15 (.267) and had a double, triple, home run and four RBI. He also stole two bases.
• Sawyer Gipson-Long had the top start of the week for the Kernels. He gave up one run on three hits with two walks over six innings. He struck out three batters. 
• Sean Mooney was the piggyback arm in one game. He tossed four shutout innings. He did not give up a hit. He walked one and struck out ten batters.
• Cody Laweryson also worked once out of the bullpen. In 2 2/3 scoreless innings, he gave up one hit, walked two and struck out three batters.    

What’s Next? The Kernels will travel to South Bend to take on the Cubs.  

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

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels
Week: 4-2, hosting Tampa 
Season: 34-16 overall, 1st place in the Florida State League West, 8.0 games ahead of Clearwater (26-24). 

Ft. Myers was able to increase their lead in the division with a 4-2 week. The Mussel bats outscored the Tarpons 33-17 on the week. It was a terrific week for the pitchers as well, with the team’s second no-hitter of the season on Tuesday. And Emmanuel Rodriguez put together arguably the greatest week of production that I can recall!  

• Emmanuel Rodriguez had a huge week. In five games, he went 7-for-12 and hit .583/.700/1.500 (2.200) with a double, two triples, two homers, and six RBI. He also had seven walks to go with just one strikeout! And he stole a base. No surprise he was named the Florida State League Hitter of the Week. 
• Luis Baez played in five games. He went 4-for-9 and hit .444/.545/.444 (.989) with two walks. He also stole two bases. 
• Kala’i Rosario played in five games and went 6-for-16. He hit .375/.474/.500 (.974) with two doubles and two walks. 
• Mike Paredes was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week. In his start, he tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up no hits, walked two, and struck out five batters. 
• Pierson Ohl made a start and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked two batters. All nine outs he recorded came on strikeouts. 
• Ariel Jurado made his first start, a rehab appearance after having Tommy John surgery. He gave up no runs on one hit. He walked two and struck out four batters. 
• Hunter McMahon pitched two games and three innings. He gave up just one hit, walked two and struck out seven batters. 
• Juan Mendez pitched twice and threw two perfect innings. Five of the six outs came on strikeouts. 
• Matt Swain made two appearances with the Mussels before his late-week promotion to Cedar Rapids. In two innings, he struck out four batters. 
• Travis Adams gave up one run in five innings in his start. He struck out eight batters without issuing a walk. 

What’s Next? The Mighty Mussels make the long trek to Daytona (19-31) for a six-game series.   

Pitching Probables (LHP Steve Hajjar, TBD, LHP Jaylen Nowlin (vs Chase Petty), TBD, TBD, TBD)  

PROSPECT SUMMARY

This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week. The Prospect Tracker will be updated on the first of each month throughout the season. Notice that these pages now include stats and splits, as well as past article links, video and more.  

#1 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - Did Not Play (Season: 34 G, .313/.405/.534 (.940), 12-2B, 1-3B, 5-HR, 30 R, 14 RBI, 18 BB, 32 K)
#1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - Did Not Play (.000), 0-2B, 0-HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (Season: 12 G, .300/.317/.550 (.867), 4-2B, 0-3B, 2-HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K) 
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 6 G, 4-for-23 (.174), 0-2B, 1-3B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K (Season: 46 G, .247/.361/.324 (.685), 7-2B, 2-3B, 1-HR, 34 R, 14 RBI, 23 BB, 28 K, 21 SB, 2 CS)
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - In MLB (Season: 21 G, .256/.295/.442 (.737), 10-2B, 2-HR, 10 R, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 14 K)
#3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 5 G, 5-for-18 (.278), 1-2B, 2-HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K (Season: 25 G, .202/.237/.405 (.641), 6-2B, 4-HR, 8 R, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 22 K)
#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 3.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K  (Season: 5 GS, 16.1 IP, 21 R, 16 ER, 27 H, 12 BB, 17 K, 0-2, 8.82 ERA, 2.39 WHIP, 6.6 BB/9, 9.4 K/9)
#5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 2 GS, 6.1 IP,  2 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 8 K (Season: 10 GS, 48.0 IP, 17 R, 16 ER, 37 H, 17 BB, 50 K, 2-2, 3.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, 9.4 K/9)

#6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 1 GS, 3.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K (Season: 11 G, 10 GS, 34.1 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 17 H, 22 BB, 50 K, 0-1, 1.83 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 5.8 BB/9, 13.1 K/9)
#7 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - (Season: 35 G, .307/.385/.591 (.976), 13-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 27 R, 30 RBI, 14 BB, 23 K)
#7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 6 G, 7-for-30 (.233), 2-2B, 4-HR, 11 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K (Season: 13 G, .255/.349/.636 (.986), 3-2B, 0-3B, 6-HR, 13 R, 15 RBI, 6 BB, 11 K)
#8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 7-for-12 (.583), 1-2B, 2-3B, 2-HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 2 K (Season: 45 G, .280/.495/.568 (1.063), 5-2B, 3-3B, 9-HR, 35 R, 25 RBI, 54 BB, 51 K)
#9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 6 G, 1-for-22 (.045), 1-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K (Season: 45 G, .256/.387/.357 (.744), 7-2B, 2-3B, 2 HR, 33 R, 12 RBI, 34 BB, 51 K)
#10 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 3.2 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K (Season: 8 G, 7 GS, 32.2 IP, 15 R, 12 ER, 26 H, 12 BB, 35 K, 3-1, 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9, 9.6 K/9) 

#11 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 4.1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 K (Season: 8 GS, 37.0 IP, 19 R, 17 ER, 30 H, 13 BB, 52 K, 3-4, 3.65 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, 12.6 K/9) 
#12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 9 K  (Season: 10 G, 9 GS, 52.1 IP, 24 R, 21 ER, 43 H, 24 BB, 62 K, 4-1, 3.61 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9, 10.7 K/9)
#13 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 5 K (Season: 8 G, 6 GS, 29.0 IP, 26 R, 37 H, 13 BB, 30 K, 0-2, 8.07 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 4.0 BB/9, 9.3 K/9)
#14 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1 G, 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K (Season: 4 G, 3 GS, 13.1 IP, 10 R, 9 ER, 15 H, 7 BB, 19 K, 0-0, 6.08 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 4.7 BB/9, 12.8 K/9) 
#15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 6 G, 8-for-22 (.364), 1-2B, 1-HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K (Season: 46 G, .273/.387/.527 (.914), 9-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 33 R, 39 RBI, 30 BB, 68 K) 

#16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 5 G, 5-for-19 (.263), 0-2B, 1-HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K (Season: 29 G, .269/.417/.398 (.815), 4-2B, 1-3B, 2-HR, 17 R, 11 RBI, 25 BB, 28 K) 
#17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch (Season: 6 G, 5 GS, 18.2 IP, 15 R, 23 H, 6 BB, 21 K, 0-4, 7.23 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.1 K/9)
#17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 K (Season: 3 G, 1 GS, 8.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 4 BB, 10 K K, 0-1, 7.88 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9, 11.3 K/9) 
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 6 G, 8-for-27 (.296), 5-2B, 0-3B, 2-HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K (Season: 49 G, .303/.368/.551 (.919), 13-2B, 3-3B, 10-HR, 33 R, 43 RBI, 19 BB, 55 K)
#19 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K (Season: 1 G, 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K, (Season: 8 GS, 33.1 IP, 10 R, 8 ER, 17 H, 19 BB, 57 K, 2-1, 2.16 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 5.1 BB/9, 15.4 K/9)
#20 - David Festa (Ft. Myers) - (Season: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K, (Season: 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9)
#20 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K (Season: 3 G, 1 GS, 13.2 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 14 K, 3-0, 2.63 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 2.0 BB/9, 9.2 K/9)
 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK 

Hitter of the Week: Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels   

This is the second consecutive, and third overall player of the week honor for Rodriguez this season. He was the choice for Hitter of the Month in April. He was solid again in May, and he has started June on fire. Two weeks ago, he went 0-for-12 for the week, but he walked 10 times, continuing to show his much-improved strike zone management. In the two weeks since then, he has played in ten games. He had gone 13-for-30 and hit .433/.591/1.000 (1.591) with a double, two triples, four home runs and 11 RBI. He has also walked 13 times and struck out ten times. 

Rodriguez played in five games last week at Hammond Stadium against Tampa. He went 7-for-12 and hit .583/.700/1.500 (2.200) with a doubles, two triples, two home runs, and six RBI. He also had seven walks to go with just two strikeouts. Those numbers are just crazy! 

Overall, he has played in 45 games for Ft. Myers in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. He has hit .280/.495/.568 (1.063) with five doubles, three triples, nine home runs, and 25 RBI. He is also 11-for-15 in stolen base attempts, and plays a solid center field. 

Rodriguez signed with the Twins in July 2019 for $2.5 million out of Santiago. He was unable to make his debut until 2021. Last year, in 37 FCL Twins games, he hit .214/346/.524 (.870) with five doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs. He also stole nine bases. 

Pitcher of the Week: RHP Mike Paredes, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels  

Mike Paredes was the Twins 18th round draft pick in 2021 out of San Diego State University. He went to college about 10 miles from where he went to high school, San Diego High School where he was a strong two-way player. As a freshman, he worked mostly out of the bullpen and struck out 56 batters in 51 innings. He also went 1-for-2 with an RBI double. He made four starts in the shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he went 4-0. 

Upon signing, he pitched in two games for the FCL Twins. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk in four innings. He struck out six batters. This season, he began the season in the Ft. Myers bullpen. Gradually he got extended and then did some piggybacking before entering the team’s rotation. He has made four starts now. Overall, he is 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA. In 31 1/3 innings, he has walked just five batters while striking out 31 batters. 

In his start last week against Tampa, he struck out five batters over six scoreless, hitless innings. He walked two. Hunter McMahon got the final three outs to keep the no-hitter, the Mussels third no-no over the past nine months, and second this season. 

In his four starts, he has gradually worked more and more. In his first start, he threw three no-hit innings. In his second start, he threw four, one-hit innings. He went five innings in his third start (two runs on three hits). And, six innings of no-hit ball in his fourth start. What is next for the 21-year-old right-hander?  

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the players and the teams in the COMMENTS below.