Cedar Rapids Kernels notebook: Gabriel Gonzalez returns and hits

CEDAR RAPIDS — Gabriel Gonzalez can hit. Even after missing considerable time with an injury.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder went 3-for-6 with a home run and two runs batted in Friday night in his team’s 11-5 win over Beloit at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Considered one of the top 10 minor league prospects in the Minnesota Twins farm system, the 20-year-old from Venezuela missed not quite two months of the Midwest League season with a back problem. It was muscular, not disc-related or anything.

Since being activated from the injured list recently, Gonzalez is 12-for-36 with a pair of homers and 12 RBIs.

“He has been good,” said Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelman. “His at-bats have been solid, has hit some balls hard. It looks like he’s moving around pretty well. I think his back issues have kind of passed him now, so he’s in a good spot for us here.”

Gonzalez was acquired in the offseason by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners organization in a trade that sent big-league second baseman Jorge Polanco west. Kernels pitcher Darren Bowen also was part of the trade.

He was signed by the Mariners as an international free agent in 2021 for a bonus of $1.5 million. He went into Saturday with a .300 batting average in 270 minor-league games.

The book on Gonzalez as a hitter is that he makes regular contact but needs to tighten up his strike zone so as to be able to drive the ball more consistently.

“He’s hitting really well right now. His mentality, he’s looking better. He’s got really good bat to ball,” said Kernels co-hitting coach Jairo Rodriguez. ”He needs to do less chasing. Especially on the breaking pitch. He’ll make contact, but it’s soft contact.”

Kernel knowledge

• The Kernels are a season-high 17 games over .500 at 48-31 after an 8-2 win Saturday night at home against Quad Cities. That includes an 11-4 mark in the second half, which places them in first place in the Midwest League’s Western Division.

The league has Sunday and Monday off, with Cedar Rapids beginning a six-game series Tuesday at Beloit. Then it’s four days off corresponding with the 2024 Major League All-Star Game and break, with the Kernels returning home for three games against Beloit beginning Friday, July 19.

• Who else other than Gonzalez has been on an offensive heater for the Kernels?

Try catcher Ricardo Olivar, who actually has been good all season. Going into Saturday, he had reached base in 22 straight games, one better than a 21-game on-base streak he posted in June.

Olivar is hitting .306 (fifth in the Midwest League), had a .416 on-base percentage (third), a .520 slugging percentage (second) and an OPS of .936 (second). He also was fifth in home runs (11) and walks (46).

• Catcher Nate Baez struggled mightily in April, hitting just .132 (5-for-38), but rebounded to post a .306 batting average in both May and June. He got off to a 1-for-13 start in July but went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs in C.R.’s 11-5 victory.

• Infielder Payton Eeles was promoted this week from Cedar Rapids to Triple-A Saint Paul, a move that is supposed to be temporary because the Saints have been dogged by injuries recently. Eeles played in 13 games for the Kernels after being signed out of independent ball this spring and beginning his affiliated baseball career at low-A Fort Myers.

He has played three games for Saint Paul, and is 2-for-5 with a double and four walks.

Cedar Rapids Kernels injury updates

• Outfielder Kyle Hess and corner infielder Rubel Cespedes have been taking batting practice.

Hess hasn’t played since injuring his ankle walking down the dugout steps after hitting a triple and coming all the way around on an error on the play. Cespedes was placed on the injured list with a wrist injury incurred in a game last week.

He leads the Kernels with 46 RBIs this season.

• Pitchers C.J. Culpepper, Bowen and Miguelangel Boadas have been playing catch and/or throwing off the mound. All three are on the IL but Culpepper and Bowen are expected to be activated fairly soon, according to Dinkelman.

• Infielder Danny DeAndrade recently had surgery on the fascia surrounding his ankle and is likely done for the season. DeAndrade sprained his ankle twice this season and hasn’t played since leaving a May 15 home game after re-injuring it fielding a routine grounder.

He was shifted from the seven-day to the 60-day injured list this week.

• Pitcher Connor Prielipp has been throwing at the Twins minor league complex in Fort Myers and might (emphasis on that word) eventually find his way to Cedar Rapids by the end of this month or in August. Prielipp was a second-round draft pick of the Twins in 2022 out of the University of Alabama but has had persistent elbow injuries and two Tommy John surgeries, limiting him to just two professional appearances, including a four-inning start for the Kernels in April 2023.

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