A Pair of Promotions: Twins #8 Prospect, Outfielder Gilberto Celestino, And Infielder Sherman Johnson Added To Saints Roster

LOUISVILLE, KY (June 1, 2021) - Two prospects in the Twins system with different career paths were promoted to St. Paul on Tuesday. Joining the Saints are outfielder Gilberto Celestino, the number eight prospect in the Twins organization, and infielder Sherman Johnson. Both players are coming to the Saints from Double-A Wichita.

Celestino spent the beginning of the 2021 season with the Wichita Wind Surge, where he was batting .250 with five doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs. This season was his first prolonged stint at Double-A, as his first came in 2018 with the Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston Astros), where he played just three games.

The 22-year-old spent most of his breakout 2019 season with Cedar Rapids, playing 117 games with the Kernels. He hit .276 in in Low-A, amassing a career-high 10 homers and 54 RBIs, which was 20 more than he had in any other season in his career. He finished in the top 10 in the Midwest League in average (.276, fifth), hits (124, fifth), total bases (184, sixth), slugging (.409, 10th) and OPS (.759, 10th). Those numbers earned him the promotion to Fort Myers, where he finished the season, getting nine hits in his last eight games of the season for a .300 average.

In 2018, the Santo Domingo, DR native was part of a trade that sent him from the Houston Astros to the Minnesota Twins in a package that included current Twins pitcher Jorge Alcala in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressley. He spent the prior two seasons with the Astros playing rookie ball. In 2018, with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the short-season New York-Penn League, he was named a Baseball America Short-Season All-Star, and had earned NYPL Player of the Week honors in July.

Celestino was an international free agent signing by the Astros in July, 2015, an international class that included Fernando Tatis Jr. Valdimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto. That was the same year the Twins signed infielder Wander Javier.

Johnson, 30, joins the Saints in his ninth year of professional baseball. His promotion to St. Paul makes the 2021 season the fifth that he’s appeared on a Triple-A roster. He was with the Angels organization from 2012-2018 and the Reds farm system in 2019. He was on the Angels Triple-A team in Salt Lake from 2016-2018, making his Major League debut with the Angels in 2018. In 10 games with the Halos, he went 0-10 with four strikeouts.

The Tampa, Florida native started the 2021 campaign with Double-A Wichita, batting .107 through 11 games, with two of his three hits being doubles. Defensively, he played two games at second base and two games at third base for the Wind Surge.

In his 2019 season with the Louisville Bats, he hit .241 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. The 2018 season, his final with the Angels system, he hit .277 in 46 games with the Salt Lake Bees, which was his best Triple-A average. He split the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons both with Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Salt Lake, but injuries limited his playing time in 2017 and 2018. In his 2016 season, which started at Double-A, he hit .369 in 19 games and earned his first promotion to Triple-A.

Johnson’s 2014 season was one to remember, playing with High-A Inland Empire, where he finished the season as the league leader in triples (13), and finished top 10 in the California league in walks (second - 88), runs (third - 107), hits (eight - 146), stolen bases (ninth - 26, his career-high) and total bases (ninth - 246). He also finished that season setting his career high in home runs (17) and RBIs (78).

Johnson came to the Twins organization signing a minor league contract on May 12th, 2021 after signing to play with the American Association’s Kane County Cougars, managed by former Saints manager George Tsamis.

Outfielder Mark Contreras was also transferred to Double-A Wichita on Tuesday.

The Saints Roster now consists of 27 players, 15 pitchers and 12 position players.