Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Keaschall & Culpepper named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids infielder Luke Keaschall and right-handed pitcher C.J. Culpepper have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the week.

Luke Keaschall was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft from Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ). MLB Pipeline has Keaschall rated the Twins ninth best prospect. Keaschall, 21, played in six games for the Kernels, hitting .500 (12-for-24) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and a 1.545 OPS. For more info on Keaschall go here.

C. J. Culpepper was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from California Baptist University (Riverside, CA). Culpepper won this award three times in 2023 and is a first time winner in 2024. MLB currently has C. J. rated as the Twins 8th best prospect on MLB Pipeline and you can read more about Culpepper there. Culpepper, 22, made the start for the Kernels on Thursday at Peoria, pitching 6 perfect innings, with eight strikeouts, retiring all 18 batters he faced.

Twins-Minor-League-Report-5-28-2024

Mercedes & Ohl named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that FCL outfielder Yasser Mercedes and Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The Minnesota Twins signed free agent Puerto Rican native outfielder Yasser Mercedes to a minor league contract on January 15, 2022 for $1.7 million. Mercedes is in his third season of pro ball. Repeating FCL after looking overwhelmed in his first try. MLB Pipeline has Mercedes as the Twins 19th best prospect.

This week Mercedes, 19, played in four games, hitting .625 (10-for-16) with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, seven runs scored, three walks and a 1.809 OPS.

Pierson Ohl, a Moorpark, California native was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ) and signed for $100K.

Ohl, 24, made the start on Tuesday at Tulsa, pitching 6 shutout innings, with four hits allowed and one walk, while tying a professional career high 10 strikeouts. Ohl, a right-hander is in his fourth season of pro ball.

Twins Minor League Report, 5-13-2024.PDF


McCusker & Matthews named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced Double-A Wichita outfielder Carson McCusker and Wichita right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Zebby Matthews was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 8th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC). Matthews is currently rated by MLB as the Twins 20th best prospect. Stop by the MLB Pipeline site and see more detailed info about Matthews here. This is Zebby’s third pitcher of the week award this year. Matthews was promoted to Wichita from Cedar Rapids on May 6.

Matthews, 23, made his Double-A debut on Thursday vs. Arkansas, allowing two unearned runs on three hits in 6.2 innings pitched, with no walks and nine strikeouts. Matthews is on a roll and appears to have figured something out. Watch Matthews strike them out right here.

Carson McCusker is a Sparks, Nevada native who was signed
by the Minnesota Twins in June of 2023 and originally selected by the Brewers in the 26th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Folsom Lake College in California. Who is he? He’s. 6-foot-8 outfielder who was signed by the Twins in June 2023 after he ripped up the Frontier League for the Tri-City ValleyCats, an team playing summer baseball in the independent league.

McCusker, 25, played in five games for the Wind Surge this week, hitting .526 (10-for-19) with four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.819 OPS. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound outfielder went 5-for-5 on Tuesday vs. Arkansas. You can watch McCusker’s three home run night here.

Keirsey Jr. & Festa named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota twins have announced that Triple-A St. Paul outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Saints right-handed pitcher David Festa have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Outfielder DaShawn Keirsey was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT).

Keirsey Jr, 26, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .280 (7-for-25) with one double, one home run and six RBI.

David Festa was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ). Festa is rated as the club’s fifth-best prospect by MLB.com — first among pitchers.

Festa, 24, made the start on Tuesday vs. Louisville, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

With the Minnesota Twins no longer on Bally Sports this might interest you if MiLB is interesting to you. Good price for sure.

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Gonzalez & Matthews named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez signed with the Seattle Mariners as a 17-year-old from Venezuela for $1.3 million in February 2021. Gonzalez began his professional career with the organization’s Dominican Summer League club. The Carupano, Venezuela native was acquired by the Twins as one of the pieces in the Jorge Polanco trade on January 29, 2024. This past week Gonzalez, 20, played in five games for the Kernels, hitting .353 (6-for-17) with four doubles, one home run, five RBI and a 1.186 OPS. MLB Pipeline has Gonzalez rated at the Twins 4th best prospect and he is rated number 71 in MLB Pipelines 100 best prospects. For more info on Gonzalez please go here. Check out his home run at https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/gabriel-gonzalez-cranks-a-two-run-home-run

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Doncon & Raya named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers infielder Rayne Doncon and Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent SS Rayne Doncon to a minor league contract for a signing bonus of $497,500 in January of 2021. Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Manuel Margot and cash to the Minnesota Twins for Noah Miller (minors) on February 26, 2024. This past week Doncon, 20, played in six games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .304 (7-for-23) with four doubles, two RBI, five walks, a .414 on-base percentage and an .892 OPS. Doncon is a San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic native. Doncon hit 14 home runs in 2023 but struck out 103 times and hit just .213 in 473 PA’s. Photo credit to William Parmeter.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS (Laredo, TX). Raya had committed to Texas Tech but signed with the Twins instead for a bonus of $410,000. Raya, 21, made the start on Friday versus Tulsa, pitching 3 scoreless innings in a start, with two hits allowed, no walks and four strike-outs. He has now posted a 2.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 2 ER) with no walks and 11 strikeouts in three starts for the Wind Surge this season. The Laredo, Texas native is ranked as the club’s sixth-best prospect by MLB.com and fifth-best by Baseball America. For more info on Raya please go here. I think Raya could have an exciting future if he can stay healthy.

Twins-Minor-League-Report-4-19-2024

Rodriguez & Matthews named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

After discovering Emmanuel Rodriguez, who was only 16 at the time, in the Dominican Republic in 2019, the Minnesota Twins signed him to a $2.5 million contract as an international free agent. MLB has Rodriguez at the Twins 3rd best prospect and 40th best overall. Rodriguez, 21, played in six games for the Wind Surge, hitting .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 runs scored, five RBI, seven walks, a .577 on-base percentage, a 1.105 slugging percentage and a 1.682 OPS. Rodriguez is crushing AA and needs to move up soon. To see more go here and here.

Zebby Matthews was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 8th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC). Matthews is currently rated by MLB as the Twins 20th best prospect. Matthews, 23, made the start for the Kernels on Wednesday against Dayton, allowing one run on four hits in 5 innings pitched, with no walks and eight strikeouts. To see more on Matthews please go here and here.

Twins-Minor-League-Report-4-14-2024

Camargo & Morris named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

Minnesota Twins Triple-A St. Paul catcher Jair Camargo and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Andrew Morris were named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jair Camargo, a 24-year-old catcher from Barranquilla, Colombia, was acquired as part of the Twins-Dodgers Kenta Maeda trade that sent Brusdar Graterol to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020. Camargo was added to the Twins 40-man roster this past November. This past week Camargo played in six games for the AAA St. Paul Saints, hitting .273 (6-for-22) with one double, one home runs, three RBI, three walks and just four strikeouts.

Andrew Morris is a New York, NY native and was selected by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Tech University. He is currently ranked as the 18th-best prospect in the Twins system by MLB.com. Morris, 22, made the Opening Day start for the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night at Beloit, pitching 4.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, one walk and six strikeouts. You can read more about him here.

Twins minor league players of the week are Rodriguez and Morris

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Andrew Morris and outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez have been named the final minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for the Twins organization in 2023. Both players helped lead the Kernels to their first Midwest League Championship since 1994 with a win over Great Lakes on Wednesday night.

Emmanuel Rodriguez a Santiago, Dominican Republic native was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2019. Rodriguez was a top 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 international prospects list for 2019-20 when the signing period opened up in July of 2019. The Twins were all in, giving the toolsy outfielder $2.75 million to sign. MLB Pipeline currently has Rodriguez rated as the 48th best prospect overall and has Rodriguez as the Twins 3rd best prospect behind Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee. You can learn more about Rodriguez here. Rodriguez has won this award four times earlier this season and he seems to be another in the long line of Twins left-handed sluggers.

Rodriguez hit a second-inning grand slam in the deciding Game 3, finishing the evening 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Slash line for the season is .240/.400/.463.

Andrew Morris was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX). Morris signed with Minnesota for a reported signing bonus of $500K. MLB Pipeline now has Morris rated at the Twins 30th best prospect. You can read more about Morris here.

Morris started Game 2, allowing one run on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with no walks and seven strikeouts. On the season (between low A and High A) Morris pitched 84.1 innings allowing 86 hits with 70 strikeouts while posting a 8-2 record with a nifty 2.88 ERA and a 1.048 WHIP.

TITLETOWN! Cedar Rapids Kernels win Midwest League championship

Twins-Minor-League-Report-9-15-23-1.PDF


Twins minor league players of the week are Cardenas & Culpepper

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids catcher Noah Cardenas and Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher C.J. Culpepper have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 24.

C. J. Culpepper was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from California Baptist University (Riverside, CA). According to Jim Callis, Culpepper signed with Minnesota for $125,000. This is the third time this season Culpepper has won this award. MLB currently has C. J. rated as the Twins 14th best prospect on MLB Pipeline and you can read more about Culpepper there.

Culpepper, 21, made the start for Kernels on Friday against Peoria in the decisive Game 3 of the Midwest League West Division Series, allowing one run on four hits in 5 innings
pitched, with one walk and eight strikeouts. Splitting his time between Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids in 2023, Culpepper was 6-5 with a 3.56 ERA over 86 innings in which he had 89 strikeouts and allowing just 4 home runs.

Continue reading Twins minor league players of the week are Cardenas & Culpepper