Articles Tagged: Cedar Rapids Kernels

Starting pitcher Jose Olivares through a season-high five innings Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium as the Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Lake County, 1-0. The 22-year-old from Venezuela has the makings of a future major leaguer.

Outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez has always been known as a good hitter. A back issue last season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels prevented him from showing that. But he’s healthy this season and hitting a ton the first month and a half of the Midwest League season.

Shortstop Kaelen Culpepper was the first-round pick (21st overall) of the Minnesota Twins last summer out of Kansas State. He has flashed his skills in the early going for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in between injuries, including one Wednesday in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to Peoria.

Pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo of the Cedar Rapids Kernels was part of a trade that sent him from the Los Angeles Angels to the Minnesota Twins organization in 2022. He missed all of last season with a shoulder injury but has returned and shown big league stuff.

The American Rivers Conference baseball tournament has been held at Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids since 2004. The plan is to keep it here but use Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo for seasons a scheduling conflict occurs with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher-first baseman-designated hitter Nate Baez didn’t get a whole lot of playing time in the first week or two of the Midwest League season. But he got four hits in a game he did play in, he continued to follow up that performance with more good performances and now he finds himself with a .353 batting average and more walks than strikeouts while playing most days.

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher-outfielder Khadim Diaw has gotten off to a good start to the 2025 Midwest League season. A third-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins last summer from Loyola Marymount University, his mother played softball at Yale. His father is from Senegal and is working on introducing kids from his West African country to baseball.

Cedar Falls High School graduate Connor Schultz has taken the hard road to affiliated professional baseball. After four years at Butler University and one at the University of Iowa, the right-handed pitcher played independent ball in Montana before the Chicago Cubs offered him a contract last summer. He’s in the Midwest League this season with the South Bend Cubs, who are playing this week at Cedar Rapids

Kaelen Culpepper had a three-run home run and career-high five RBIs, and Danny DeAndrade also homered as the Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Wisconsin, 8-1, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Kyle DeBarge of the Cedar Rapids Kernels was primarily a catcher for his high-school baseball team in Louisiana. But he got a chance to play shortstop once he went to the University of Louisiana and never left the position. The 33rd-overall pick of last year’s 2024 MLB Draft has played shortstop, second base, left and center field so far this season for the Kernels.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Beloit, 10-7, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium to win the first full series of the Midwest League season four games to two. Cedar Rapids has a 6-3 overall record, even after having to place four players on the injured list this week.

He’s on pace for 66 victories this season. Pitcher Spencer Bengard of the Cedar Rapids Kernels has thrown in three games in the very early going and won all three. That included Saturday afternoon when the Kernels beat Beloit, 7-4, at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Pitcher Paulshawn Pasqualotto struggled in his first professional baseball season in 2024. But armed with a new pitcher and a better fastball, the reliever is off to a great start this season with Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Doug Nelson was hired by the Cedar Rapids Baseball Club in 2003 to help run the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The longtime CEO has announced his retirement, after he helps tutor his replacement, whose hiring appears to be imminent.

Cedar Rapids Kernels infielder Billy Amick is the son of a former NASCAR driver. A second-round draft pick last year by the Minnesota Twins from College World Series champion Tennessee, he has hit the baseball a ton in his first four games this Midwest League season.