The St. Paul Saints welcomed the Worcester Woo Sox to CHS Field for the very first time this week. Despite being rained out again on Wednesday, the first three games of the series brought plenty of action between some of the best prospects in baseball. Read up on who’s hot and who’s not for the Twins and Red Sox Triple-A affiliates.
Notable Dynasty Performances in St. Paul
Twins Triple-A Hitters Who Are Standing Out
Hitter 1: Luke Keaschall
Stats from the last two weeks: .210 AVG | .337 OBP | .417 SLG | 0 HR | 1 RBI | 0 SB | 17.2 K% | 13.4 BB%
The Twins’ number two prospect is back in game action after missing nearly three months with a broken right forearm. Keaschall is in the midst of a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints and is not expected to be rushed back to the active roster anytime soon. He’s played in six games so far and gone 5-for-20 (.250 batting average) playing exclusively as a DH.
Keaschall is taking his time to build his arm back up after sustaining the broken forearm from Kyle Hendricks on April 25, as well as still recovering from Tommy John surgery that ended his season on August 8, 2024. He’s expected to begin playing in the field once again this weekend and will likely only play five to seven innnings during those games in the field.
It was challenging for Keaschall to sit out and let the bone heal for three months. But he said he couldn’t have been in a better enviorment to build his strentgh back up with the Twins at Target Field. Spending time in the Major League clubhouse was a huge help for him to seek guidance and soak up as much information as he could from the veterans.
“I kept a good headspace the whole time, stayed competitive, and just getting back here and seeing all my friends and stuff like that has been great,” Keaschall said. “I’m just excited to get back out there and compete and play the way I always play.”
The slow start for Keaschall in these rehab games should not be a concern for dynasty fantasy teams. He’s missed three months of game action and is building his swing and timing back up after the long absence. The Twins will not be rushing him back up to the Major League roster any time before the trade deadline next Thursday. Keep your eyes on how his rehab changes over the next week, and the productive numbers at the plate will return.
Hitter 2: Payton Eeles
Stats from the last two weeks: .282 AVG | .337 OBP | .359 SLG | 1 HR | 5 RBI | 3 SB | 17.5 K% | 7 BB%
Eeles has had a slow start out of the gate after returning from the injured list in early June as his knee recovered from surgery that addressed a cartilage issue. The last few weeks, Eeles has been hitting better for average, but he’s still missing out on power that he showcased frequently after joining the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate a year ago. His lone home run on the year came on the final day of play before the All-Star Break in Des Moines, Iowa, against the I-Cubs.
The slow start should not sway dynasty team owners from their faith in Eeles. He had two months away from game action and still had to build up his bat speed against Triple-A pitching. He continues to be a threat on the basepaths and is a spark plug at every position he plays in the field. The power will build back up as he continues to get regular playing time, and if that comes as the Twins sell off their available players during the trade deadline. He can work himself into consideration for a September call-up and make his MLB debut.
Visiting Red Sox Hitters Grabbing the Attention
Hitter 1: Johstynxon Garcia
Stats from the last two weeks: .325 AVG | .429 OBP | .500 SLG | 2 HR | 8 RBI | 0 SB | 20.4 K% | 12.2 BB%
More commonly known by his nickname, ‘the Password, ‘ Johstynxon Garcia has been one of the hottest hitters the Worcester Woo Sox have had on the team all season. He’s kept up a .300 batting average in Triple-A thanks to his hot month of July, hitting .325 at the plate with a couple of home runs and eight RBI to accompany it. The hot tear he’s had at Triple-A earned him a nod in the MLB All-Star Futures Game earlier this month, where he was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts
The strikeouts have been Garcia’s biggest flaw over the course of the 2025 season. During the Saints, Woo Sox double header on Thursday, Garica struck out in four of his six plate appearances and had two up the middle singles in game two. Garcia is only 22 years old and much younger than the majority of players at Triple-A. If the Red Sox go in as buyers this trade deadline, he will likely be a prospect many teams ask about in return, but don’t expect him to be rushed to the Majors anytime soon if he gets traded away.
Notable Pitching Performances in St. Paul
Pitcher 1: Cory Lewis
Cory Lewis was in a similar situation to his teammate Marco Raya at the start of the season. He started the season with a bad stretch of nine outings where things could not go his way before landing on the injured list in late May with a left hamstring strain. Before Lewis was placed on the IL, he had a 9.42 ERA, 2.27 WHIP, and .346 opponents average in 28 ⅔ innings of work, along with 21 walks and 29 strikeouts, making out to a 14.1% walk rate and 19.5% strikeout rate.
Since he returned on June 15, things have played out differently for the flame-throwing knuckleballer. He’s pitched to a 3.38 ERA and .169 opponents average in 24 innings, along with 19 walks and 35 strikeouts, marking an 18.1% walk rate and 33.3% strikeout rate because he’s put more emphasis on throwing his knuckleball than ever before. The knuckleball has been Lewis’s strongest pitch throughout his Minor League career, touching up to 88 MPH in bullpen sessions, and he’s still working towards building it up to 90 MPH.
While the pitch does induce a lot of contact, it is still fooling hitters with how hard it is being thrown at them, resulting in a lot of swings and misses. Earlier in the season, Lewis was trying to get hitters to chase the pitch outside the zone, but he’s leaned more into throwing in the strike zone to challenge them to induce contact off it.
“I was kind of just nibbling and working around the zone, whereas recently, I’ve just been attacking hitters,” Lewis said. “Kind of a mindset change, I guess. And then obviously the knuckleball being in zone helps out a lot, and it doesn’t produce a lot of damage, so it definitely gives me some confidence of letting it rip in there.”
The Saints are rolling out Lewis every five to six days, both as a starter and out of the bullpen. The Twins’ 2023 Minor League Pitcher of the Year is still working to make the second half of 2025 better than the first, and it’s because of that he should be on the radar of dynasty fantasy players in 2026. Especially if they crave having the fastest knuckleball thrown on their rosters.
Pitcher 2: Kyle Harrison
One of the prized players the Giants sent to the Red Sox in return for Rafael Devers, Kyle Harrison struggled out the gate when he was optioned to Triple-A Worcester following his acquisition by the Red Sox. Over his first three starts as a Woo Sox, Harrison allowed 11 runs in 13 innings of work off of 20 hits, including five home runs, and five walks. The low walk rate was impressive but it couldn’t make up for the hard contact he was inducing off hitters in the earlier goings with his new organization.
Things have faired much better for Harrison over his last two starts, showing more flashes of the form he had in San Francisco. Harrison went 9.2 innings over his last two starts, including six innings of one run ball against the Saints Tuesday night. He’s allowed much fewer hits over the 9.2 innings, just seven hits and no extra base hits, while allowing just four walks and striking out 10.
The Red Sox seem to be going all in on the starting pitcher trade market this next week before the deadline, indicating Harrison will likely remain in the Minor Leagues for the Red Sox to balance out his strength and weaknesses in his new org. Still only 23 years old, the Red Sox have the luxury to use the rest of the season to develop him more to their liking and still have Harrison well within their plans to make the starting rotation in 2026 with more experince under his belt.
Other Dynasty Storylines to Follow
Saints outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez is once again on the 7-day IL with a strained oblique. This marks the third time he’s landed on the IL this year and he will likley be out unitl early September, giving him only three weeks left to play in the Triple-A season. Between the thumb, hip strain, and now oblique injury, Rodriguez has only played in 51 games this season. It’s still the second most he’s had in his young career, but there is warrant for concern with how infrequently Rodriguez can stay on the field due to injuries.
