Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Twins minor league players of the week are Matt Wallner & Kyle Jones

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Kyle Jones and Triple-A St. Paul outfielder Matt Wallner have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week 13.

Kyle Jones was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 7th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) and signed for $176,600. A TwinsDaily.com interview with Jones can be seen here.

Jones, 23, appeared in two games (one start) for the Kernels, going 1-0, 1.23 ERA (7.1 IP, 1 ER), with five walks and eight strikeouts, while holding opponents to a .154 batting average. The 6’1″ (200) right-handed Jones started the season in Cedar Rapids and has pitched in 13 games with 11 starts and has 51 strikeouts in 53.2 innings with a 4-4 record and a 4.02 ERA. He finds a way to keep the ball in the ballpark and has given up just two home runs all season.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Emmanuel Rodriguez & Cesar Lares

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez and Florida Complex League (FCL) Twins left-handed pitcher Cesar Lares have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 12.

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 had Rodriguez rated as the 69th best prospect overall and has Rodriguez as the Twins 3rd best prospect. You can learn more about Rodriguez here.

The 5’10” (210) Rodriguez, 20, bats and throws left-handed. Rodriguez suffered a left abdomen sprain in mid-April and was on the IL for three weeks. Rodriguez hit .571 with three home runs and a 2.095 OPS, while producing an 11% strikeout rate, compared to a 22.2% walk rate for the Kernels this past week. His slash line on the season is .232/.379/.470. Keep in mind that the 20 year old Rodriguez has just 84 games and 350 PA’s of pro ball under his belt prior to this season.

Cesar Lares signed with the Twins in the 2022 international signing period for $10,000 out of Maracay, Venezuela. Lares, 19, made one start for the FCL Twins on Tuesday vs. the FCL Orioles, pitching 3.0 shutout innings, with one hit allowed, no walks and five strikeouts. The 6’0″ lefty got hit around a bit in one of his three starts this season but in the other two starts he was stellar. A very short video of Cesar Lares on Twitter at work this past week.

Twins Minor League Report, 6-25-23.PDF

Twins minor league players of the week are Marco Raya & Chris Williams

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Marco Raya and Triple-A St. Paul catcher/first baseman Chris Williams as their minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week eleven.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS in Laredo, Texas. Raya was committed to Texas Tech but signed with Minnesota instead for $410,000 according to MLB. Raya signed in 2020 but spent all of 2021 on the injured list with various injuries and didn’t throw his first pitch in a pro game until 2022. Raya has had one visit to the IL this season. MLB Pipeline has Raya as the Twins 6th best prospect. Go here of more info on Raya.

Raya, 20, made one start for the Kernels on Friday vs. South Bend, allowing one run on two hits in 3.0 innings pitched, with no walks and six strikeouts. Raya also had a 46% whiff rate. Seems the Twins have a close watch on his pitch count, he has not gone more than four innings in any game. B-R Game logs for 2023

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Twins minor league players of the week are Jair Camargo & Cory Lewis

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Triple-A Saint Paul catcher Jair Camargo and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Cory Lewis as their minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week ten. Twins Rookie and DSL leagues began play on June 5.

Jair Camargo was acquired by Minnesota from Dodgers via trade with right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda and cash, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol, outfielder Luke Raley and Competitive Balance B Pick in 2020 Draft on February 10, 2020.

Camargo, 23, hit .375 (6-for-16) with four home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.537 OPS in four games for the Saints this week. On the season the 5’10” (210) Barranquilla, Colombia native has 9 home runs and 25 RBI while hitting .228 but there are also those 54 strikeouts in 148 PA’s.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Matt Wallner & Brent Headrick

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Triple-A outfielder Matt Wallner and Triple-A left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week nine. Twins Rookie and DSL leagues begin play today (June 5).

Brent Headrick was Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 9th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Illinois State University (Normal, IL). Headrick signed with Minnesota for a reported $130,000. MLB Pipeline currently has Headrick as the Twins 24th best prospect. More info on Headrick. The 6’6″ lefty made his big league debut earlier this season.

Headrick, 25, pitched 5 innings of relief on Tuesday at Buffalo, allowing one run on five hits in 5 innings pitched with no walks and seven strikeouts. This season in Triple-A St. Paul, Headrick has started 5 of the 8 games he has appeared in this season but it appears the Twins are trying to make him a relief pitcher. In 37.2 innings he has allowed 43 hits and struck out 48 but his WHIP is 1.407 so his control needs some work.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Ricardo Olivar & Marco Raya

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers catcher/outfielder Ricardo Olivar and High-A Cedar Rapids pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week eight. Twins Rookie and DSL leagues begin play on June 5th.

The Barquisimeto, Venezuela native was signed by the Twins as an international free agent on July 8, 2019 for just $20,000. MLB Pipeline currently shows Olivar as the Minnesota Twins 26th best prospect. For more info on Olivar go here.

Olivar, 21, hit .600 for the week, including a home run, a double and a 1.600 OPS for the Mighty Mussels. On the season the right-handed hitting Olivar is slashing .282/.355/.422. The Twins have the 5’10” (176 lbs) Olivar playing catcher and outfielder and he has even played two games in centerfield.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Blayne Enlow & Kala’i Rosario

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita RH pitcher Blayne Enlow and High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Kala’i Rosario have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week seven.

Blayne Enlow was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft from St. Amant HS (St. Amant, LA). Enlow received a $2 million signing bonus to coax him out of his commitment to Louisiana State University.

Enlow, 24, made one start for the Wind Surge on Thursday vs. Arkansas, allowing one run on six hits in 5.1 innings pitched with no walks and had a career high of 10 strikeouts. The 6’3″ Sorrento, Louisiana native is already 24 and running out of time as he is in his sixth season (excluding 2020) of pro ball and has not yet pitched in AAA. In seven starts in 2023 he hs thrown 35.2 innings and struck out 47 and has a a 3.28 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.

Kala’i Rosario was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from Waiakea HS (Waiakea, HI). Unconfirmed sources stated that Rosario signed for a bonus of $270,000.

Rosario, 20, hit .538 with one double and two home runs this week for the Kernels. The Papaikou, Hawaii native is primarily a corner outfielder. Scouts have already given Rosario a 55 grade for his power. This power definitely has something to do with his exit velocity, the analytic stat that likely made the Twins fall in love with Rosario in the first place. Rosario has his negatives, mainly, his other four tools. Rosario isn’t an overly speedy guy, he doesn’t hit incredibly well, and his glove isn’t great. His arm, while better, isn’t anything to write home about either. But the power.

Twins Minor League Report, 5-21-23.PDF

Twins minor league players of the week are C.J. Culpepper & Yunior Severino

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Yunior Severino and Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher C.J. Culpepper have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week six.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Brooks Lee & Alejandro Hidalgo

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Brooks Lee and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo have been named Twins minor league Player and
Pitcher of the Week for week five.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Louie Varland & Mike Helman

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and Triple-A St. Paul infielder Michael Helman have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week four. For some reason the Twins did not announce their minor league players of the week last week.

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