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The Minnesota Twins have played 16 games during the 2022 season, and while they’ve largely avoided the injury bug, the catching depth is being tested early. Jose Godoy drew his first start, and it seemed there was no one behind him. Throughout the season thus far, manager Rocco Baldelli has used both Ryan Jeffers and Gary Sanchez in the same starting lineups often. With both catchers being deployed, there’s the reality of a lost designated hitter should they need to swap out mid-game. Baldelli has noted that the club was working through identifying an emergency option, and while that hasn’t yet been needed, the depth is being tested early. After being in the lineup for Friday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Sanchez walked with catching coach Hank Conger back to the dugout after initially heading to the bullpen for warmups. Jeffers was shifted into the starting lineup, and it was announced that Sanchez had a sore abdomen. He underwent further testing on Saturday, but an MRI revealed only a minor indication of injury. Avoiding the Injured List, for now, he remained on the active roster over the weekend. On Sunday, Minnesota had penciled Jeffers into the starting lineup with Sanchez out, but ultimately he was scratched with a left knee contusion. After placing Jorge Alcala on the 60-day Injured List, the open 40-man roster spot was given to Jose Godoy as a necessary move to have a catcher available. Although Jeffers was said to be potentially available off the bench, that seemed thwarted with multiple late-game situations where his bat or glove could’ve provided an upgrade. While it’s certainly understandable that Minnesota wants to be cautious given the length of the season and needing to keep guys healthy, Sunday’s action brought up questions regarding what happens at a position tied to significant injury risk. Before the season started, the Twins dealt both Mitch Garver and Ben Rortvedt in separate trades. While that signified Jeffers as the starter and led to an acquisition of Sanchez, it turned the position on its head. Minnesota claimed Godoy off waivers in a depth move, but he brings just 16 games of experience to the table after debuting with Seattle last season. The Twins have a trio of backstops at Triple-A, and each provides a different skill set. David Banuelos is a 25-year-old with just a .574 career MiLB OPS. Caleb Hamilton is a 27-year-old with a better bat owning a career .667 OPS. The most intriguing name may be the recently claimed Chance Sisco. He’s a former top prospect with an .807 OPS in the minors. He’s yet to put it together at the big-league level but may be next in line for Minnesota. There’s no denying that it would be a very negative development if both Sanchez and Jeffers were lost at any point during the season. Happening a few weeks in is even less ideal. As their injuries stand now, both seem to be highly short-term and are being managed to have them back quickly. However, playing catcher will invite nicks and bruises, and the Twins may have seen a quick glimpse of what they wish to avoid in keeping all of their backstops healthy. Over the weekend, Jeffers saw his bat start to heat up, and carrying that momentum forward would be an excellent development for a player the front office so clearly believes in. Sanchez has flashed extreme pop at times, and while his glove still leaves plenty to be desired, he’s settling into a new home with the Twins. The duo looks like part of a strong position group, and Baldelli needing to figure out how to operate without them is not something he will want to do often. I don’t know if Godoy or Sisco can hack it for the Twins over any significant stretch of time. I’d certainly prefer not to find out as well. View full article

The first week of the Saints season and first weekend series for all other Twins affiliates concluded with impressive wins and a hard loss for Wichita. Read about it in today’s Minor League Report. TRANSACTIONS Catcher Jose Godoy cleared waivers and was outrighted to St. Paul. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 15, Louisville 6 Box Score SP: Jake Faria - 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K HR: Curtis Terry (1), Kyle Garlick (1), Mark Contreras (2), Daniel Robertson (1) Multi hit games: Robertson (2-5 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Garlick (2-5 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Terry (2-3 3 R, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 BB), Contreras (3-5, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Jermaine Palacios (2-5 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI), Chance Sisco (3-5 2 R, 2 2B, RBI) The Saints finished their series in Louisville with a bang as six Saints hitters tallied multiple hits in their 15-6 victory over the Bats. The offense was balanced for the Saints with everyone except Derek Fisher getting a hit and top prospects Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda being the only ones without multiple hits. This gave an opportunity for all the other hitters in the Saints lineup a chance to shine, especially the likes of Sisco and Contreras who tallied two doubles each in their three-hit games. Louisville starter Ben Lively struggled with his control in this game as he hit three batters, one to Miranda and two to Lewis. Fortunately for both Miranda and Lewis the pitches they took did not result in any serious injuries that removed them from the game. Jake Faria struggled in his first two innings but recovered during his final inning and a third on the mound. Coming in to replace Faria was Chi Chi Gonzlaez, who had a notoriously bad spring training with the Twins posting an 18.69 ERA in just 4 1/3 innings pitched. A bad spring training did not carry over into Gonzalez’s Saints debut as he gave up two earned runs on three hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings pitched. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Tulsa 7 Box Score SP: Chris Vallimont 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-4) The Wind Surge took the only loss for the Twins minor league affiliates on Sunday. Chris Vallimont couldn’t find his way out of the first inning in his 2022 season debut. The Drillers tallied five runs off of him to knock him out early. Following Vallimont’s struggles, Kody Funderburk came in from the bullpen to stop the bleeding. Funderburk only surrendered one run in three innings of relief. The Wind Surge were able to get a run back in the bottom half of the first inning thanks to a Spencer Steer double that drove in Austin Martin. But the Drillers were able to keep the Wind Surge scoreless until the seventh inning when they scored two more runs. All nine Wind Surge hitters were able to get on base this game but still did not have enough juice in the bats to pull together a win. Wichita has yet to win a game this season, falling to 0-3. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 0 Box Score SP: Sawyer Gipson-Long 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None Christian Encarnacion-Strand had been the star of the Kernels first two games but his bat cooled off just a little bit in Sunday’s game going 1-for-4 with an RBI double. However, the pitching stepped up in a big way on Sunday. The Kernels had five pitchers work on Sunday afternoon, and they combined to shutout the Sky Carp in a 2-0 victory. The starter for the Kernels was Sawyer Gipson-Long who hurled four scoreless innings and gave up two hits, walked two, and struck out five batters. Following Gipson-Long from the bullpen were Bobby Milacki, Melvi Acosta, Denny Bentley, and Osiris German. They combined for five innings pitched of no-hit baseball giving up only two walks and striking out four Sky Carp batters. German earned the save for the Kernels. The Kernels were able to pull off the sweep of the Sky Carp on only three hits thanks to the master class pitching from their rotation on Sunday. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 3 Box Score SP: Travis Adams 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K HR: Noah Cardenas (1) Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-3 1 R, 3B, 3 RBI, BB, K) The Mighty Mussels completed their sweep of the Clearwater Threshers on Sunday bringing them to a 3-0 record to start the season. Mussels starter Travis Adams contributed a strong first outing of the season keeping Clearwater to one run in his five innings pitched. Jaylen Nowlin came into the game after Adams and surrendered the Threshers two runs, but the rest of the Fort Myers bullpen kept the game scoreless. Jackson Hicks pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Juan Mendez came on and recorded his first save of the season. Kyler Fedko had the big hit of the game for Fort Myers. Fedko smacked a bases-clearing triple in the top of the seventh that gave the Mussels the lead making it a 6-3 game. Mussels catcher Noah Cardenas also had a big hit getting his first home run of the season in the second inning. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Travis Adams (Ft. Myers) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Mark Contreras (St. Paul) - 3-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B (2), K #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B (3), 2 R, 2 K, RBI, CS, 2-HBP #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-5, K, RBI (4), HBP #10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, BB, 3 K, CS (1) #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, K, CS (1) #15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, 2 BB, SB (1) #18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B (2), RBI #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-4, K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, April 12. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). The Saints and Mighty Muscles will be hosting their home openers on Tuesday. Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) - RHP Daniel Gossett (0-0, 7.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Brandon Lawson Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) - LHP Cade Povich Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya (first professional start) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games as the first weekend of the Minor and Major League seasons has concluded. View full article

The Twins Opening Day roster is becoming more and more clear by the day, and could continue to change as we go forward. Lefty Danny Coulombe has made the roster. He was added to the 40-man roster this morning. Catcher Jose Godoy was DFAd to make room, but there is a new catcher in the organization. Two other players were assigned to minor-league camp. The Twins need their roster for Opening Day to be at 28. As of this moment, it is now down to 30 players following a flurry of roster moves on Monday morning. First, congratulations to lefty reliever Danny Coulombe. The 32-year-old veteran has worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings this spring. he's given up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. When he makes his first pitch in 2022, he will have pitched in eight major-league seasons. Over the past two seasons, he has worked in 31 games for the Twins including 29 games in 2021. From 2016-2018, he pitched in 134 games for the Oakland A's. He has also pitched for the Dodgers in his career. To make room for Coulombe on the 40-man roster, the team designated catcher Jose Godoy for assignment. The move seemed strange at the time as the Twins will only have two catchers on the 40-man roster, one of which is Gary Sanchez. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut a year ago for the Mariners, but this will be his third DFA since the end of last season. However, soon after, the team announced that they have signed catcher Chance Sisco to a minor-league deal. He will report to St. Paul shortly. The 27-year-old backstop was a Top 100 catching prospect in 2017 and 2018. He played in the 2016 and 2017 Futures Games. He debuted with the Orioles in 2017 and has since been a part-timer in the big leagues. In 196 career games, he has hit .197/.317/337 (.654) with 24 doubles and 16 homers. So, basically, he is Jose Godoy. But, he does provide depth behind the plate. In addition, RHP Jake Faria and infielder Daniel Robertson were also assigned to minor-league camp. They will head to the Saints as well, maybe in time for their season-opener on Tuesday in Louisville. That leaves the Twins with 30 players on their active camp roster. There are 17 pitchers. There are now just two catchers. They have six infielders and five outfielders. The lone non-roster player remaining in camp is outfielder Kyle Garlick. So, what does it all mean? Well, basically it means that the biggest decision remaining is whether to add Kyle Garlick to the 40-man roster or just roll with Brent Rooker. It isn't an easy decision. Garlick crushes left-handed pitching, and that is an important trait for a fourth-outfielder. While not great defensively, he can play both corners adequately. Rooker is on the 40-man roster, but he has been slowed by a shoulder injury. On Saturday, he returned to the Twins lineup. He is in the Twins spring lineup for Monday. It is very possible that the decision has been made and they will just wait until after today's game to announce it. The interesting piece will be who would get DFAd to make room for Garlick on the roster. In addition, the Twins will have to decide whether they want to start the season with 15 or 16 pitchers on the roster. if they want 16, they will need to option one pitcher to St. Paul. If they decide to take just 15 pitchers, that would leave possible the idea of keeping both Garlick and Rooker on the active roster, though a roster move would still be needed. How is this going to shape out over the next few days? Will the team make any trades before the season to add another pitcher, or a player from another position? What do you think? View full article