Tag: Fort Myers Mighty Mussles

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

Twins minor league players of the week are Festa and Jenkins

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher David Festa and Low-A Fort Myers outfielder Walker Jenkins have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week 22.

David Festa a New Jersey native 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 signed with the Twins for a $125,000 signing bonus. MLB Pipeline currently has Festa rated as the Twins 9th best prospect. Read more about Festa here. Festa is getting to be a regular here, I wonder if they will give him a late season call-up as a reward.

Festa, 23, made his Triple-A debut on Wednesday night for the Saints against Columbus, allowing one run on four hits in 5 innings pitched, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

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Twins minor league players of the week are De Andrade & Varland

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers infielder Danny De Andrade and Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Louie Varland have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 19.

According to sources, the Minnesota Twins have signed (6/21/20) and agreed to pay shortstop Danny De Andrade of Venezuela, number 14 on MLB Pipeline’s 2020 Top 30 International Prospects List, a $2.2 million signing bonus. De Andrade is tall and lean and projects to be a middle-of-the-order hitter. He’s slotted in at shortstop now, but there’s a chance he moves to third because of his size, and his skill set might fit better at the hot corner. He has a chance to be an above-average defender at either position. For more info on De Andrade see here. He is currently rated by MLB as the Twins 10th best prospect.

De Andrade, 19, hit .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles, one home run, six RBI, one walk, six runs scored and a 1.380 OPS for the Mighty Mussels. Currently playing his third year of pro ball.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Peña & Culpepper

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Dominican Summer League infielder Dameury Pena and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher C.J. Culpepper have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 14.

The Minnesota Twins signed 17 year-old free agent SS Dameury Peña to a minor league contract in January 2023. The right-handed hitting Peña, played in four games, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with three doubles, one triple, two RBI, three runs scored, one walk, no strike-outs and a 1.252 OPS. On the season Peña is slashing .392/.444/.541 with 8 steals.

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 second time this season Culpepper has won this award. MLB currently has C. J. rated as the Twins 26th best prospect on MLB Pipeline and you can read more about Culpepper there.

Culpepper, 21, who was bumped up to Cedar Rapids on June 26 made two starts for the Kernels, going 1-0, 0.00 ERA (11.0 IP) with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Twins Minor League Report, 7-1-23.PDF

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 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 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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Twins minor league players of the week are Ross & Matthews

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids shortstop Ben Ross and Low-A Ft. Myers right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week two.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Balazovic & Cavaco

The Minnesota Twins have named Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic and Low-A Fort Myers infielder Keoni Cavaco as the club’s minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week.

Jordan Balazovic was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from St. Martin SS (Mississauga, ON). At one point he was as high as number 3 on the MLB Twins Pipeline but now finds himself at number 15. The soon to be 24 year-old is spending his sixth season in the minors (no minor league ball in 2020).

Balazovic, who turns 24 on Saturday, made two starts for the Saints, going 0-0, 1.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 1 ER) with four walks and 15 strikeouts. Balazovic has had a disappointing 2022 season with his last two starts being arguably the best he has had all season. He started the season on the IL and with the AAA-Saints he has made 18 starts and has an 0-6 record with a 8.16 ERA. In his 18 starts he has pitched 56 innings (3.11 innings per start) and he has given up 89 hits while striking out 61 batters. His last start was the first time he has ever pitched 5 innings in pro ball and he has not thrown as many as 80 pitches in his career. He is relatively young but has to turn things around soon if he wants to be a big league pitcher.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Helman & Ohl

The Twins announced that Triple-A St. Paul infielder/outfielder Michael Helman and Low-A right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Michael Helman was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas A&M University (College Station, TX). According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, Helman agreed to a deal with a signing bonus with $220,000. That was above slot value as Minnesota had room with their bonus pool to offer him extra money. Helman started 2022 in AA Wichita and was bumped dup to AAA St. Paul at the end of May.

Helman, 26, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .333 (10-for-30) with two doubles, one triple, four home runs, seven RBI, seven runs scored, an .867 slugging percentage and a 1.222 OPS, including a five-hit game on Tuesday at Omaha. The 6’1″/195 Helman has played all four infield position as well as CF and LF for the Saints this season. Helman is slashing .287/.357/.505 with the Saints.

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