Moving Day: Saints Make Plethora of Moves As McCusker and Morales Promoted From Double-A Wichita

ST. PAUL, MN (August 24, 2024) - As the end of the 2024 season nears, it is time for players from lower levels of the minor leagues to get moved up and experience a new challenge. That will be the case for Carson McCusker and Jefferson Morales, who were transferred from Double-A Wichita to St. Paul on Saturday.

McCusker, 26, is in the midst of his first full season of affiliated baseball. He has played 98 games with the Wichita Wind Surge, hitting .281/.357/.489 with an .846 OPS. The outfielder clubbed 26 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs and drove in 64 runs in 370 at-bats. At the time of his promotion, he ranked among Texas League leaders in: doubles (26, 2nd), extra-base hits (44, 2nd), slugging percentage (.489, 3rd), OPS (.846, 3rd), RBI (64, 3rd), total bases (181, 4th), home runs (15, T-5th) and batting average (.281, 7th).

The Sparks, Nevada native joined the Twins organization after his contract was purchased from the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League on June 29, 2023. He split the campaign between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids, hitting .264 with 14 home runs and 36 RBI in 46 games.

McCusker began his professional career with the Tri-City ValleyCats after four years at Oklahoma State University. In three seasons with the ValleyCats, he hit .326/.383/.612 in 145 games. He finished his tenure with the ValleyCats with 29 homers, third all-time in their franchise’s history.

In his three seasons with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, McCusker was a two-time Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection. He was a 26th-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017 out of Folsom Lake (CA) College, but did not sign.

Morales, 25, has hit .278/.356/.431 with a .787 OPS, hitting 21 doubles, one triple and nine home runs in 88 games with Wichita. His .278 batting average was the ninth-best in the Texas League at the time of his promotion.

Born in La Victoria, Venezuela, Morales is in his sixth season in the Twins system. He was signed as an international free agent on October 6, 2016. After missing the 2017 season with a right knee injury, Morales started his professional career in 2018, where he ranked third in the Dominican Summer League in on-base percentage at .466 and seventh in OPS with a .937 mark, earning DSL Midseason All-Star honors.

Morales was named the catcher on the 2021 Twins MiLB.com organizational All-Star team after hitting .255 with a career-high 12 home runs and a career-best 53 RBI between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids. He was also named the Mighty Mussels; Harmon Killebrew award winner in 2021.

To make room on the active roster, the Saints transferred catcher Alex Isola to Double-A Wichita and released outfielder Wynton Bernard. Additionally, reliever Scott Blewett had his contract selected by the Minnesota Twins.

The Saints’ roster now holds 27 players, one short of the league maximum, with 14 pitchers and 13 position players, with five players on the Injured List and one Major League Rehab assignment.