The Minnesota Twins are certainly most focused on how many fans they draw at Target Field , their home ballpark in Minneapolis. However, just across the river, where “baseball is fun”, their Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints, are making headlines with their attendance numbers at CHS Field.
St. Paul Saints drive attendance with fun baseball
The St. Paul Saints aren’t out to replicate the Savannah Bananas . In fact, you could argue that the Bananas are a circus show based on what the Saints used to be. But in St. Paul, the baseball was always real. And that’s never been more the case than today.
To this day, the Saints have one of the greatest game atmospheres in professional baseball, and fans flock to CHS Field because of it. Despite being largely a feeder team for a big league club devastated by injuries all season, the Saints continue to draw wonderful crowds that rival some Big League teams.
On Tuesday, in their series opener vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Saints drew 6,913 people, which was 119 more attendees than the announced crowd that same night at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.
The Saints are 57-64 overall on the season. Unfortunately they are just 1-9 in their last 10 games, and their 19-28 second half record has them well out of postseason contention.
Despite the poor performance, fans continue to show up. The level of engagement throughout a game is something the 46-81 Miami Marlins don’t have. St. Paul has also shown off prospect talent that would make multiple Marlins players blush.
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Results aren’t the end-all-be-all at the minor league level. St. Paul hasn’t had a great season, but they have generated a better following than the terrible big league team.
What Twins prospects with play for the St. Paul Saints next?
St. Paul has employed top prospects like David Festa , Zebby Matthews , and Brooks Lee this season. None of them are currently rostered.
Short of Andrew Morris and Yunior Severino, top 30 prospects are largely absent from the Saints roster. When the 2025 season kicks off, there could be a handful more top Minnesota prospects at the highest level of the farm system.
- Emmanuel Rodriguez OF – The talented outfielder is a top 100 prospect and has a 1.100 OPS this season at Double-A. He has been limited to just 37 games due to a hand injury, but should be at Triple-A next season.
- Luke Keaschall INF – An incredible year ended with surgery, but Keaschall put up his numbers while dealing with a torn elbow ligament . He’ll get a clean bill of health to start next spring.
- Marco Raya RHP – Seen as comparable to David Festa, Raya has been handled with kid gloves. He has flashed well at times with Double-A Wichita, and needs to pass the final test next season.
- C.J. Culpepper RHP – Recently promoted to Double-A Wichita, Culpepper will start 2025 there but should see the Saints by the end of the season.
- Cory Lewis RHP – Lewis dealt with an injury that slowed the start of his season. He has since debuted at Double-A and looks the part of a legit pitching prospect.
- Tanner Schobel INF – The 2022 2nd round pick has slowed since reaching Double-A. His .666 OPS is much lower than the .859 mark from High-A. If he can settle in next season, a promotion will follow.
- Kalai Rosario OF – After playing in the Arizona Fall League last year , Rosario came to Double-A ready. His .759 OPS at 21 years old was impressive. His season ended in June, but he’ll have a shot at the next level in 2025.
It’s entirely possible that the St. Paul Saints see all of these prospects in the next calendar year. Whether they win at Triple-A or not, you can bet baseball fans will continue to pack CHS Field. There’s a decent chance the team playing there could knock off the Miami Marlins as well.
Related: MLB Pipeline Names Former Twins Player to All-Time Prospect Lineup
There’s a decent chance the team playing there could knock off the Miami Marlins as well. If you haven’t been to a St. Paul Saints game recently, there’s plenty of reasons to change that. They have 16 home games left this season.
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