Young and talented: Brandon Winokur having his best month in June

CEDAR RAPIDS - He has always played up relative to his age so far in his professional baseball career.

He was 19 years old last season when he played for the low-Class A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. He’s a 20 year old this entire Midwest League season for the high-A Cedar Rapids Kernels.

It takes talent to pull that off. It takes maturity to pull that off. It takes mental toughness to pull that off.

Brandon Winokur owns them all.

“It’s something I’ve worked on for a long time,” the Kernels infielder-outfielder said. “No matter what happens, at the end of the day, I know I’ve worked on skills since I was a freshman in high school. I’ve had to deal with things mentally.”

This has been Winokur’s best month with the Kernels, who hosted South Bend on fireworks night Saturday night. He had a couple of big home runs last week in a series against Beloit that wrapped up the MWL’s Western Division first-half championship and 10 this season.

He has six long balls in June, an OPS right about the .800 mark. The at-bats have improved, no doubt about that.

Encouraging stuff for the parent Minnesota Twins’ third-round draft pick in 2023 out of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. The Twins signed him away from a college commitment to UCLA with a $1.5-million bonus.

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“He has kind of figured out what really works for him, and he has done a really nice job of not overblowing failures or anything,” said Kernels co-hitting coach C.J. Baker. “He has stayed really consistent (mentally) throughout the season. Not to say he doesn’t get frustrated like everybody else does, but he minimizes. He has a great head on his shoulders, he focuses more on the boys than anything.

“Then over the last three weeks or so, we have, like, collectively have helped create a really good consistent routine that allows him to focus more on when he is starting, to just go hit and swing. He’s been awesome. He has been really locked in on his approach, what he is swinging at. His splits over the last month are ridiculous.”

Winokur is one of those rare guys with five-tool potential. They’d be hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, defensive ability and arm.

He is considered one of the best athletes in the Twins system, someone who can play shortstop and center field, an extremely rare combination in pro ball. Friday night against South Bend, he played third base.

But he’s young, and he’s raw. Right now, there is a lot of swing and miss because he’s got such long levers as a hitter, and he’s sometimes too aggressive.

At this stage in his career, you let him play and learn.

“It’s a long year. I’m just trying to be as consistent as possible, but I feel good,” Winokur said. “Trying to keep the approach simple and just do anything I can do. Other than that, just keep it simple. I have a really good hitting coach. C.J. Baker is the frickin’ man. He’s awesome, I love him.

“I think mechanically I’ve just kind of changed my setup. Kind of trying to use my levers. Being 6-foot-6, just kind of let them work a little more. I think I’ve been standing a little more upright, not really use my hands as much. Just try and keep it simple. That’s always kind of been my thing. Keep it simple, and good things will happen.”

The Kernels were 42-31 going into Saturday, 2-5 in the MWL’s second half. They host South Bend again Sunday afternoon at 1:05, have Monday off, play three games Tuesday through Thursday at Quad Cities, then return home for the Fourth of July, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon against the River Bandits.

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