The Minnesota Twins dealing 11 players in trades last week brought in a number of minor league prospects. Three of them have been assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Midwest League club has a whopping nine new players on the active roster from just a week ago.
Here is another look at how Eastern Iowans and former University of Iowa baseball players are doing in the early going of the 2025 Major League Baseball and minor league seasons.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels have employed a six-man starting rotation this Midwest League season. But things have worked differently this week, with a couple of starters throwing in multiple games in shortened outings. With a starter going on the injured list Friday, it’ll be interesting to see how things are pieced together for the club as it begins a two-week road trip Tuesday night.
Minnesota Twins prospect Kyle DeBarge stole his 50th base this Midwest League season in a game Thursday night against Fort Wayne. He has 51 total and been caught just three times. The infielder also has two walk-off hits this week against the Tincaps.
Samuel Perez threw two shutout innings Wednesday afternoon for the Cedar Rapids Kernels to pick up the win as his team walked off Fort Wayne, 5-4, at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The left-hander has allowed just two earned runs the past three months despite a fastball that’s generally just 86 to 87 miles per hour.
Relief pitcher Nick Trabacchi of the Cedar Rapids Kernels is 26 years old. He threw collegiately at Maryland-Baltimore County and Division II Shepherd, not exactly big-time programs. He then spent four years in independent leagues, finally getting his shot in affiliated ball in late May when the Minnesota Twins signed him.
Poncho Ruiz began this baseball season for low-Class A Fort Myers, promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels in late May. His steadiness, especially defensively, has been a boon for the Kernels. Ruiz, 23, is from Tijuana, Mexico, traveling across the border each day to attend high school in Chula Vista, California.
Marion High School grad Owen Puk had a couple of inconsistent college baseball seasons at Florida International University in Miami, as well as a missed season because of Tommy John surgery. But he put things together this past season, which led to the pitcher being taken Monday in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals. He will sign a contract and turn pro.
Quad Cities River Bandits infielder Sam Kulasingam went 2-for-4 Sunday in his team’s 5-3 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He’s an Air Force Academy graduate who is obligated for four years of military service after his pro baseball career ends, even if he makes it to the major leagues.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits played three times earlier this week in Davenport and are playing three times this weekend in Cedar Rapids. It’s the first time they have opposed each other this Midwest League season, despite the clubs being in the same division and only 80 miles apart geographically.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels won the Midwest League Western Division first-half championship but went into Friday night’s July 4th home game against Quad Cities just 4-8 in the MWL’s second half. They haven’t played especially sound baseball, though Manager Brian Meyer pointed out every team has those spells in a long 132-game season.
A big birthday bash being planned for one of Eastern Iowa’s most iconic mascots will be both corny and conical.
Relief pitcher Hunter Hoopes has had a good season, getting promoted from low-Class A Fort Myers to the high-A Cedar Rapids Kernels in early June. He was signed by the parent Minnesota Twins in July 2024 after a video was posted to YouTube of him throwing a fastball 100 miles per hour as an instructor at Tread Athletics, a pitching training and development company in North Carolina.
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