Jeff Johnson

The Minnesota Twins generally have had a grip-it and rip-it offensive philosophy, one that has trickled down to their minor league affiliates. But Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelman said an emphasis this season for his players has been to have better two-strike approaches in order to avoid a cavalcade of strikeouts. The Kernels’ K numbers are indeed down in the very early going of the Midwest League season.

The Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team beat up Rutgers, 15-5, Saturday afternoon, setting up the possibility of a weekend series sweep for the first time this Big Ten Conference season and the second time this season overall.

Here is the first 2024 edition of Eastern Iowans in Professional Baseball. This is a list of guys from Eastern Iowa or the University of Iowa playing in the major leagues or affiliated minor league baseball. There are four big leaguers right now in pitchers Mitch Keller (Pirates), Keaton Winn (Giants), Colin Rea (Brewers) and A.J. Puk (Marlins).

Marcus Morgan was a four-sport athlete at Iowa City West High School. He could have played Division I in basketball, football or baseball. But Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller ultimately won the multi-sport recruiting war, and Morgan is coming off his best starting pitching performance of the season last weekend at Ohio State.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders failed to qualify for the United States Hockey League playoffs this season. But with the league drafts upcoming and the possibility of several returnees, the club seeks a quick turnaround.

The Iowa Heartlanders concluded their season over the weekend on a high note. They beat Kansas City, 7-4, before a franchise-record crowd of 4,878. They still finished last in the Central Division, last in the Western Conference with a 27-37-6-2 record.

A second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins last year, Luke Keaschall has been limited to designated-hitter duty early this Midwest League season because of an arm problem. But he played second base Sunday as the Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Dayton, 4-2, and did just fine. His offensive output continued to be just fine as well.

It has been a great first week of the Midwest League season offensively for Rubel Cespedes of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He had three hits, including a home run, in C.R.’s 8-5 win Saturday over Dayton

Brad Meester played 14 seasons in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Inspired by Ed Thomas, his late head coach at Aplington-Parkersburg, he decided to get into coaching himself when he retired as a player.

Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Andrew Morris threw six terrific innings Thursday night in his team’s 8-4 win over Dayton. Despite being just 22, this is his third professional baseball season after pitching four years of college ball. He graduated from high school in Colorado at age 16.

Thomas Vandenberg of Nepean, Ontario, has signed an official United States Hockey League tender agreement with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. The 15-year-old center counts as C.R.’s first-round pick in the upcoming USHL Draft, Phase I

Iowa City High announced Tuesday that Bill McTaggart will be its new head varsity boys’ basketball coach. McTaggart spent 23 successful seasons as girls’ head coach, including winning a state championship.

Winger Nico Blachman of the Iowa Heartlanders is a fan favorite and engaging guy who left his Florida home at 13 to play prep school hockey in Minnesota. He has played for 20 junior, college and professional teams in 10 years and vows to keep going as an enforcer type of player.

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.

A junior pitcher with an arm that throws high-90s fastballs and wipeout sliders has scuffled in his last two starts. Iowa’s coaches decided to get Brody Brecht another bullpen session with pitching coach Sean McGrath this week and push him back in the rotation. He did some good things but still allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 10-6 loss to Michigan on Saturday in the second game of a double-header at Banks Field.