Articles Tagged: Brian Dinkelman

This is Brian Dinkelman’s ninth season as a member of the Cedar Rapids Kernels coaching staff, his fifth as manager. He was named 2023 Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels host Lake County this week, a six-game series that began Tuesday night. The club entered with a 75-45 overall record, a .625 winning percentage that ranks fourth-best in team history since 1949.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels finished with a 40-26 record in the first half of Midwest League baseball play, winning the Western Division championship and securing a 10th straight MWL postseason berth. If the many youngsters on this team, especially, in the lineup, continue to progress, the second half might just be ever better.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels have been a minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins for 10 seasons. A 3-1 win Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium over the South Bend Cubs clinched the Midwest League’s Western Division first-half championship and a 10th-straight playoff berth for the local baseball club.

The game of baseball has changed, thus the way a batting order is constructed has as well. At the low-Class A minor league level, even more things go into who bats where. Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelman described how he goes about things after a 4-2, 10-inning loss Wednesday afternoon to Wisconsin.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels had a successful two-week trip to South Bend and Quad Cities that saw them go 9-4. They beat Peoria, 6-5, Tuesday night to begin a 12-game homestand and extend their overall win streak to five.

Cedar Rapids Prairie graduate, former Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy University player Corbin Day will serve as a hitting coach for the 2023 Cedar Rapids Kernels, it was announced Thursday. Day has been an assistant coach at Kirkwood. Brian Dinkelman will return as Kernels manager.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, on one hit, three walks, a hit by pitch and run-scoring balk to beat the South Bend Cubs, 5-3, in Game 2 of the Midwest League Western Division playoff series. The winner-take-all Game 3 is Friday night in Cedar Rapids.

The South Bend Cubs scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 2-1, Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Midwest League Western Division championship playoff series.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels have qualified for the Midwest League playoffs all nine years they have been affiliated with the Minnesota Twins. This year’s team plays South Bend in the Western Division finals, which begin Tuesday.

South Bend beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels in Sunday’s regular-season finale, 9-2. The Kernels went 73-58 overall. These teams face off in the Midwest League playoffs, beginning Tuesday night.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Wisconsin in five of six games of their Midwest League series this week. It’s a good sign for a ballclub prepping for the upcoming playoffs.

Third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand had an unreal start to the 2022 Midwest League season. After a bit of a lull, he his producing big offensive numbers again.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels won the Western Division and finished with the Midwest League’s best record in the first half. They look to continue to win as second half gets underway.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels went a month and a half before dropping their first series of the Midwest League season. It came this week against Lake County, though the Kernels did win Sunday afternoon, 6-1.