TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
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
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.
The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Yunior Severino and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews are the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the week for week 17. I forgot to publish this earlier, my apologies.
Yunior Severino, a Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native was signed by the Twins as an international free agent in July of 2016 for $2.5 million. For more information on how he ended up with Minnesota stop by and check out this short article. This is the second award for Severino this year.
Severino, 23, hit .313 (5-for-16) with four home runs, six RBI, two walks, a .389 on-base percentage and a 1.451 OPS for the Wind Surge, including homers in four-straight games from Tuesday-Friday all vs. Frisco. The switch-hitting Severino has a slash line this season of .287/.365/.560 and has 24 home runs and 62 RBI in 84 games. He has also struck out 117 times while playing primarily third base but also has played some second base.
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). The 6’5″ right-handed Daniel Zebulon Matthews signed with Minnesota for a signing bonus of $125,000. According to Jim Callis, Matthews led the Southern Conference with 122 K in 95.2 IP, 90-94 mph fastball touches 96, low-80s slider misses bats. This is the second time Matthews has won this award this year and MLB Pipeline has him rated as the Twins 29th best prospect. For more info on Matthews stop by here.
Matthews, 23, made one start for the Kernels on Thursday at Wisconsin, allowing one run on five hits in six innings pitched, with no walks and seven strikeouts. Matthews started the season in Ft. Myers and then moved up to High-A Cedar Rapids where he has made nine starts and has a 3-1 record with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.048 WHIP. He has struck out 42 batters in 48.2 innings while giving up 49 hits and 11 home runs.
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.
