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It was an uneven day in the Twins' system; every team played a close game and one pitcher stood out amongst the ruckus. Read all about that and more in this edition of the Minor League Report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Trevor Megill assigned to the Saints on Major League rehab C Frank Nigro transferred from High-A Cedar Rapids to St. Paul RHP Matt Mullenbach transferred from Low-A Fort Myers to High-A Cedar Rapids RHP Regi Grace Jr. was placed on the 7-day injured list (nasal fracture) Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Omaha 6 Box Score Ariel Jurado: 1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: Mark Contreras (8), Jake Cave (10) Multi-hit games: Jake Cave (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB), Elliot Soto (2-for-3, RBI) The Saints fell early and failed to pick themselves back up on Saturday. Ariel Jurado received the nod, perhaps looking to advance his name in discussions for a promotion to a big-league ballclub a week away from posting “Reliever Wanted” ads in the papers. He did not help his case, absorbing five of Omaha’s six runs—all due to the Michael Massey RBIs—while walking away after just five outs. A combo poo-poo plater of arms linked together after Jurado; Austin Schulfer, Trevor Megill, Mario Sanchez, and Yennier Cano worked the final 22 outs, allowing one run on two hits while striking out 11 batters. St. Paul’s bats nearly brought them back into the game; Mark Contreras boomed a two-run homer in the 5th inning to slice the lead to four, while Jake Cave’s 7th inning solo shot inched the Saints to the halfway mark. Michael Helman singled home a run later in the frame to narrow the deficit. St. Paul had an opportunity to tie the game in the 8th inning, but Spencer Steer and Cave both came up empty while trying to plate a run with men on the corners. Cave is secretly on a rare path; his early walk ensured safe passage to the base paths, and he has now reached base in 46 straight games. That’s an incredible streak. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 4, Springfield 5 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Leobaldo Cabrera (2-for-4, 2B, R), Daniel Ozoria (2-for-3, R, 3 RBI) Blayne Enlow continued his quest toward Tommy John recovery, allowing a pair of runs over four innings; he has not passed that mark yet in eight AA starts. The numbers are not yet dominant for the highly-touted arm, but this is hopefully a trial period for future success. Daniel Ozoria played two roles on Saturday: the hero and the goat. Ozoria knocked in three runs; two came from a 4th inning single, while an 8th inning sacrifice fly topped him off for good. His defense, however, was an odyssey; an error to open the 2nd inning allowed a run to score, while little league defense in the 8th inning—a passed ball followed by an error that directly scored another run—almost equaled his RBI output. Ozoria’s bottom-of-the-order brother, Leobaldo Cabrera, was the other batter to acquire multiple hits on Saturday. With the aid of walks, Matt Wallner, Edouard Julien, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. reached base more than once. Cody Laweryson, Alex Scherff, and Osiris German worked together to stop earned runs from scoring after Enlow left the game, but sloppy defense tacked three un-earned scores to the total. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Wisconsin 7 Box Score John Stankiewicz: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-for-6, 2B, R, RBI), Wander Javier (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB), Pat Winkel (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB) The Kernels lost on a walk-off Saturday. John Stankiewicz—back to earth after reaching great heights to start the season—worked a gritty start on the mound. He allowed just a pair of runs but scattered eight baserunners across 12 outs; the righty exited the game with his team behind. While Wisconsin enjoyed a 4-1 advantage at one point, the Kernels struck in the 7th inning, cheekily plating two runs off an infield single by Jake Rucker and an RBI groundout from Dylan Neuse. The bats came back for seconds; Wander Javier singled home the go-ahead run in the 8th inning while Pat Winkel tacked on two more for good measure; he hit a single that reached the outfield. The Timber Rattlers were displeased with losing their lead. Their bats rallied against the usually reliable Bobby Milacki; plating two clutch runs in the bottom of the 8th inning; Tyler Black’s RBI double shaved a run off the lead before he scored later in the frame off of a sacrifice fly. After exchanging failed attempts at scoring the Manfred Zombie Runner, the Timber Rattlers plated a run off a fielder’s choice in the 11th inning, walking away victorious. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 3, Dunedin 1 Box Score Mike Paredes: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K HR: Dillon Tatum (5) Multi-hit games: Rubel Cespedes (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) Fort Myers bested Dunedin in a close match on Saturday. Mike Paredes gave his batters the peace of mind needed to score against Dunedin effectively; his six innings pitched with just a single earned run provided consistency. While Paredes dabbled in fascism—he struck out three batters—he opted for a democratic approach to acquiring outs, choosing to let his fielders have some fun. It was precisely the sort of start the team needed. When Parades strutted off the mound in the 6th, the Mighty Mussels claimed a 2-1 advantage. Zach Huffins and LaRon Smith teamed up in the 2nd inning to prove that bottom-of-the-order hitters can contribute as well, with Huffins doubling home Smith off a sharply hit double to center field. Dillon Tatum claimed a victory for the middle-of-the-order, smacking a solo homer in the 4th inning and increasing Fort Myers’ lead to 2-0. Rubel Cespedes drove in the final run, scoring Noah Cardenas, but not Kala’i Rosario, on a bittersweet RBI ground-rule-double. While Paredes worked the Blue Jays for six effective innings, Samuel Perez tagged himself into the game in the 7th inning, and he proved meaner, shutting down Dunedin’s offense for the final three frames. The outing gave Perez his first save of the season. Walks were the game’s theme; Dunedin failed to take one, while Fort Myers trotted freely to first base five times; Cardenas alone worked three invitations to the base paths. Complex Chronicles FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 6 Box Score Cleiber Maldonado: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: Jeferson Morales (1), Alexander Pena (3) Multi-hit games: None The FCL Twins fell to the FCL Red Sox in an even affair on Saturday. Cleiber Maldonado’s start lacked the sheen of his previous one; the lefty allowed six baserunners against three strikeouts but permitted just a single run. Groundballs were his accomplice; seven of his outs struck the earth before a fielder could reach the ball. The Twins’ offense was sparse but powerful when working correctly; rehabbing catcher Jeferson Morales smoked an Earl Weaver special in the 7th inning to spark a suddenly doable 3-5 disadvantage. Alexander Pena inched closer with a solo homer later in the frame. Two of the team’s five hits were of the over-the-wall variety. Lefty reliever Wilker Reyes truck out four batters over two innings; left fielder Andres Centeno walked three times. Dominican Dailies DSL Twins 5, DSL Cardinals 4 Box Score Cesar Lares: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (3-for-5), Rafael Cruz (2-for-4, R, BB), Daniel Pena (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB) In keeping with the “close game” theme of the night, the DSL Twins won by a run on Saturday. The bats knocked around 10 base hits while walking nine times; five runs seems low compared to how much pressure they placed on the Cardinals. The arms commanded the story, though; Cesar Lares led with 10 strikeouts, and the staff punched out 20 hitters in total. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cesar Lares, FCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jake Cave, St. Paul Saints PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #6 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 0-5, K #8 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-2, BB, K #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-4, BB, 2 K #13 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K #15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Omaha @ St. Paul (5:02 PM) - RHP Mario Sanchez Wichita @ Springfield (4:25 PM) - LHP Kody Funderburk Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (12:10 PM) - TBD Dunedin @ Fort Myers (5:00 PM) - LHP Jordan Carr View full article

The winner of the day in the Twins minor league system was the rain. Well, Rochester and Pensacola had scheduled off days. Rains in southwest Florida caused postponements in the Gulf Coast League and for the Ft. Myers Miracle. However, the Twins beat the Yankees… in the Appalachian League thanks to a great start and a big inning. And there was a great, late inning rally in Cedar Rapids.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS Ft. Myers put RHP Blayne Enlow on the 7-Day IL (hamstring).The Miracle activated RHPs Cole Sands and Johan Quezada.RHP Owen Griffith was activated by the Elizabethton Twins.RED WINGS REPORTRochester Box Score No Game Scheduled. BLUE WAHOOS BITES Pensacola Box Score No game scheduled. Bailey Ober is scheduled to make his AA debut on Tuesday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , St. Lucie Box Score Game was rained out. Doubleheader on Tuesday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 4 Box Score Josh Winder started for the Kernels. He gave up one run on five hits over the first five innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. In the sixth inning, Alex Schick came in and gave up two runs on two hits. Ricky Ramirez took over in the seventh inning and threw two perfect innings. Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, the Kernels made their comeback. With Daniel Ozoria on base, Gilberto Celestino’s 24th double drove in the team’s first run. Gabe Snyder followed with his 16th home run to tie the game. Ramirez went back out for the ninth inning. With one out, he gave up back-to-back singles. With runners on the corners, he got a ground ball to third, but they were unable to turn the double play and the go-ahead run scored. Ramirez got the third out. The Kernels got an Ozoria single in the bottom of the ninth inning, but that was it and they fell 4-3. Ozoria led the offense as he went 3-for-4. Snyder went 2-for-4 with the home run. Jared Akins went 2-for-4 with his eighth double. Kyle Schmidt recorded his first double with the Kernels. E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 4, Pulaski 2 Box Score Andriu Marin signed with the Twins way back in November of 2014 out of Venezuela. After three seasons in the DSL, he came to the States and pitched in the GCL last year. He’s been in the E-Twins rotation all season, and on Monday night he put together the best start of his season. He gave up an unearned run in the first inning. However, that was the only run he allowed over six innings. Marin gave up just four hits, walked none and struck out 11. Owen Griffith returned from the IL to work a perfect seventh inning. Frandy Torres got the eighth inning and gave up a run on two hits. He then worked a perfect ninth inning to record his second save. The Twins offense all came in the fourth inning when they put up a four- spot. With two runners on, Matt Wallner knocked his Appy League-leading 17th double to drive in the first run. With two on now, Parker Phillips drilled his fifth home run since joining the Twins, a three-run blast. Charles Mack and Max Smith each had two hits in the game. It’s always fun to beat the Yankees! GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Rays Box Score The GCL Twins were postponed by rain… again. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Andriu Marin, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Gabe Snyder, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, 3K #15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 1-4, 2B(17), R, RBI, K #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 0-4, BB TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (5-4, 4.68 ERA) Chattanooga @ Pensacola (6:35 CST) - RHP Bailiey Ober (First Blue Wahoos start) St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - TBD (2-4, 4.66 ERA) Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled. Pulaski @ Elizabethton (5:30 CST) - LHP Cody Laweryson (0-0, 1.80 ERA) GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (DH @ 0:00 CST) - TBD, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games or any other minor league topics you would like. Click here to view the article

On Tuesday, the Twins announced that they had acquired middle infielder Daniel Ozoria from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In exchange, the Twins sent hard-throwing reliever John Curtiss who had been designated for assignment a day earlier to make room for Blake Parker. Today you can get to know a little more about the newest member of the Minnesota Twins organization.Below you will find a profile for Daniel Ozario in the form that is found in the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. There is header information with the bio information as well as his 2018 statistics. Tom Froemming wrote up his 2018 recap, as he did throughout the Prospect Handbook. I wrote up the background information and the scouting report as well as the 2019 projection. Have you purchased the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook yet? If not, why not? There are over 160 of these profiles for the Twins minor leaguers. There are feature stories on the Twins Daily 2018 Minor League Award winners (Alex Kirilloff, Tyler Wells, Andrew Vasquez), and more articles from the likes of Dan Hayes, Chris Blessing, Ted Schwerzler, Cody Christie and Tom Froemming. There is also an article about each of the Twins top five minor league affiliates that are enjoyable. Plus, you get the Top 30 Twins prospect rankings from Cody, Tom, Jeremy Nygaard, and myself. Plus, you can look at my Top 30 Prospect rankings going all the way back to 2015, if only to mock and ridicule me. DANIEL OZORIA • SHORTSTOP BORN: August 24, 2000 HEIGHT: 5-9 • WEIGHT: 150 BATS: Left • THROWS: Right HIGHEST LEVEL: Orem (Pioneer League - Rookie (Advanced) 2018 STATS: .195/.248/.218 (.461), 0 HR, 12 RBI, 26.4 K%, 5.2 BB%, 6/12 SB ACQUIRED: Acquired from the Angels for John Curtiss (1/15/19) Background: Ozoria grew up in the Dominican capital city of Santo Domingo. While he was not big, scouts saw a young player with great baseball instincts and the ability to play shortstop. He was about as young for the 2016 international signing period as possible. At the time, he was about 5-foot-9 and less than 135 pounds. He made his professional debut in 2017 in the Dominican Summer League where he hit .247/.332/.301 (.633) with six doubles and three triples. He participated in the Angels Instructional League in 2017. 2018 Recap: Ozoria spent all but two games of his 2018 season with the Angels' Arizona League team. He was very young for his level. Not once all season did Ozoria face a pitcher who was younger than he was. He was tested, and the numbers show it. The diminutive Dominican tallied just four extra-base hits in 217 plate appearances on the season. In the field, Ozoria made 33 appearances at shortstop, 13 at second base and five at third base. Scouting Report: If you look at his biographical information on most baseball sites, it will still show him at about 135 pounds. In the two years since signing, he has added some size and strength and is now up to about 150 pounds. Clearly he will have to continue to grow and add strength over the coming years, but the skills and the tools are there. Again, Ozaria is a real good defensive player. He’s got good hands, and good range. He’s also got a good arm, though strength should help his arm improve to above average. Right now, Ozoria has a nice, smooth swing that can produce line drives from gap-to-gap. The Twins took a flyer on Ozoria, and they will certainly need to exhibit a lot of patience. Rule 5 eligible: 2021 Free Agent: 2023 Forecast for ‘19: He will start the season at extended spring training and likely stay in Ft. Myers and play for the GCL Twins. More Notes One comp that I have heard is Engelb Vielma. If the Twins can turn a DFAd player (Curtiss) into a guy who gets to the big leagues, the player development would deserve a ton of credit. Best case scenario… he could become a Dee Gordon type of player. That would work, right? I’ve always been told that statistics matter much, much more in the upper levels than the lower levels. In the DSL or the rookie leagues, statistics all need to looked at, but the stats mean less than the tools. So, the fact that he hit .195 in rookie ball as a 17-year-old isn’t something that should scare anyone away. And, just for fun, here is the profile in the Handbook on former Twins pitcher John Curtiss: Again, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook today, available in paperback and for immediate PDF download. Click here to view the article