The St. Paul Saints and the Toledo Mud Hens faced off for a condensed six-game series in four days this week and featured some of Minor League Baseball’s top talent. Let’s break down performances from some of the standout names in this series and some lesser-known players making a name for themselves.
Notable Dynasty Performances in St. Paul
Twins Triple-A Hitters Who Are Standing Out
Hitter 1: Edouard Julien
Stats from the last 2 weeks: .283/.450/.500/3 HR/9RBI/ 1 SB/ 20.0 K%/ 20.0 BB%
Things are beginning to turn around for second baseman Edouard Julien, who has been at Triple-A for the last month and a half after he started off with a .198/.288/.319 slash line and just two home runs and eight RBI over 29 games. It took him some time for Julien to readjust his swing and defense, but the last two weeks have shown he’s finally getting back on track to the player he was as a hot rookie with the Twins in 2023.
Julien has only hit three home runs and 13 RBI, with a .778 OPS in 37 games with the St. Paul Saints, but just over half of those RBI and two of those three home runs have come over the last two weeks. The hard work has begun to pay off for Julien, and just like his Twin teammate Matt Wallner a year ago, it took him some weeks to get his swing back in order and have the results show up on his stats page.
He had his first back-to-back games with a home run since last July 9-10 in Wednesday’s 6-4 loss to the Toledo Mud Hens. For Julien, it’s all been a matter of simplifying his approach and taking everything one day at a time, and not spending any time wondering when he achieved a feat such as that.
“I really don’t try to think at all about that stuff, I try to go one day at a time,” said Julien. “I’m feeling awfully good at the plate, I feel good with my mentality, and I feel good with how I’m approaching pitchers.”
The small sample size of a .283/.450/.500 slash line over his last 12 games may not be enough for some to consider Julien back on the right track, but his manager, Toby Gardenhire, has given Julien his vote of confidence of being a player on the verge of his comeback.
“First of all, he’s in the cages all the time, he’s going through swing stuff with the coaches, and he’s very open to everything that we’re doing, and he’s working hard at it, and the defense has been awesome too,” Gardenhire said. “He’s working hard at everything he’s doing, so Eddie’s going in the right direction, which is good. Hopefully, we can get him back up there and crack a bunch of balls like he did a couple of years ago.”
Hitter 2: Anthony Prato
Stats from the last 2 weeks: .324/.469 /.432/0 HR/4 RBI/2SB/12.2 K%/12.2 BB%
Anthony Prato has been a sort of ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for the Saints since he was called up to the team in June of 2023. Last season, he saw a big regression in the number of hits he had, but his greatest strength has always been his walk rate, as he finished the 2024 season with a .370 on-base percentage.
This year, Prato has put up a .310/.439/.437 slash line with three home runs, 15 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. He’s always been a player who can be plugged in at any position that needs to be filled in the Saints’ lineup, including some mop-up relief outings to save the bullpen from being overworked. Prato has stepped up in the last two weeks, especially, as the Saints have had four different position players land on the injured list.
At 27 and with many other players ahead of him on the Twins’ 40-man depth chart, Prato is still a long shot to make it into the Majors. However, if he keeps playing as he has and the Twins will continue to slide down in the standings. It wouldn’t be completely out of the picture for Prato to earn his call-up to the Majors and give dynasty owners a sneaky good player to add to their rosters.
Visiting Tigers Hitters Grabbing the Attention
Hitter 1: Justyn-Henry Malloy
Stats from the last 2 weeks: .300/.440/.775/5 HR/ 11 RBI/ 0 SB/22 K%/20 BB%
The Tigers optioned Justyn-Henry Malloy back down to Triple-A on June 2, and since then, he’s been one of the most consistent batters in the Toledo Mud Hens lineup. Malloy has gone 11-for-48 (.306 batting average) in 11 games back in Toledo and put up some good defense in the outfield.
The one downside with Malloy’s performance is the lack of extra-base pop, as all of his 11 hits since being sent back down to Triple-A Toledo have only been singles. He was still searching for that first extra-base hit in Wednesday night’s game against St. Paul, and the power remained absent as he went 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers sent Malloy back down after they activated outfielder Parker Meadows, and they hope he can build his power back up in the meantime. He is still only 25 years old and can still make a career as a serviceable outfielder in the Majors. So dynasty owners should keep tabs on his current stint in the Minors.
Notable Pitching Performances in St. Paul
Pitcher 1: Travis Adams
After announcing on his own Instagram account that he was getting the call-up to the Major Leagues on Thursday, June 5, Travis Adams spent a weekend in the Majors and didn’t pitch before being sent back down to Triple-A. But there isn’t much concern about his time in the Majors without being used, as Adams is only 25 and has the makings of the best long-relief man in the Twins system.
For the time being, Adams is back to being used as a starter at Triple-A St. Paul after being used primarily as a long reliever for the first two months of the season. Since being sent back down, Adams has a 3.27 ERA in 11 innings over three outings, including two starts. He struck out 12 and only allowed his first two walks since being sent back down during his start against the Mud Hens on Wednesday, which the Saitns lost 6-3.
Adams isn’t too deterred about not having the opportunity to pitch when up in the Majors, and he’s going to continue to make the most of his time back in the Saints rotation until he’s called upon to join the Twins again.
Adams is certainly a long relief arm that dynasty fantasy owners want to have on their radars if they want a multi-inning reliever with plenty of upside that can help stack up points in the relief pitching category for their leagues.
Pitcher 2: Troy Melton
The Tigers’ number 10 prospect, Troy Melton, was recently promoted to Triple-A Toledo on June 5, and his call-up to the next level of the Minors has been an adjustment period as he’s allowed 10 runs (nine earned), 15 hits, including four home runs, in just 10 2/3 innings in his first two starts with the Mud Hens. Before his call-up, Melton had been one of the best starters in the Tigers’ Farm System, posting a 3.23 ERA in 39 innings of work and allowing just 11 walks.
But Melton is now in a heavier leaning offensive environment, and International League hitters are showing them he still has a lot of room to grow. Melton did have a 1.31 WHIP and a .263 opponents’ average in Double-A this year, and the issues he had with swing and miss stuff have carried with him as mistakes in Triple-A.
However, there isn’t any need to panic yet with Melton’s future as a starter in the Majors. He’s still only 24 years old, and with the strong rotation the Tigers have in the Majors. Melton will take his time adjusting to the competition in Triple-A, and if all goes well from here on, he can make a case for a September call-up if the Tigers bank the American League Central well ahead of the competition.
Other Dynasty Storylines to Follow
The four Saints players who have landed on the IL since the start of June, as mentioned earlier, include shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald (right ankle sprain), catcher Patrick Winkel (right wrist tendon), recently called up infielder Tanner Schobel (right forearm fracture) and Twins number two prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez (right hip strain). Their injuries have left the Saints’ lineup depleted as they’ve sunk to a 31-37 record in mid-June. Fitzgerald has at least begun base running exercises back into his pregame workout routine with the Saints training staff, leading to conclude he will be the first of these four back on the field for St. Paul.
