Mighty Mussels refresh roster, add four new players

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 16, 2021) – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, in conjunction with the Minnesota Twins, added four new players to the Mighty Mussels’ active roster Monday.

Since Saturday, the Mussels have announced a total of 10 transactions:

Aug 16 – C Patrick Winkel, OF Kyler Fedko, 2B Alerick Soularie, RHP Matt Mullenbach assigned to Mighty Mussels; LHP Denny Bentley promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids

Aug 15 – C Nick Garland and OF Nick Anderson released from organization

Aug 14 – UT Anthony Prato and RHP Matt Canterino transferred to High-A Cedar Rapids, RHP Miguel Rodriguez placed on 7-day injured list

The Fort Myers roster now sits at 27 active players, leaving three open spots for future additions.

Monday marks the first day in which the Twins placed members of the 2021 draft class on active rosters. SS Noah Miller (36th Overall) and C Noah Cardenas (8th Round) were activated with the FCL Twins. Miller went 1-for-3 with a walk in his pro debut.

The Mussels’ four new additions will join the team in time for a six-game road trip to Dunedin Tuesday. Two of the four players will be making their professional debuts.

Soularie was selected in the second round of the abridged 2020 MLB Draft and is currently ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the Twins’ system by MLB Pipeline (No. 26 in Baseball America’s midseason update). A Second Team All-American at Tennessee, Soularie was ranked as the No. 58 prospect in the 2020 Draft by Baseball America. The Texas native led the Volunteers in all three slash line categories as a sophomore in 2019, helping Tennessee reach their first NCAA Tournament since 2005. He was a JUCO All-American at San Jacinto (Tex.) as a freshman in 2018, batting .402 for the national powerhouse.

Winkel was selected in the ninth round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Connecticut. First Team All-Region by ABCA, Winkel hit .284 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI over 53 games (.894 OPS) as a junior in 2021. The Orange, Conn. native hit .318 with a team-leading seven home runs and 38 RBI in 49 games as a freshman in 2019. He recorded three straight multi-hit games in the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional before missing the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery. Drafted by the Yankees out of high school, Winkel was the 2018 Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year at Amity Regional High School.

Fedko spent three years as Winkel’s teammate, helping the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament in both 2019 and 2021. Fedko put together one of the best seasons in college baseball this spring, leading the Big East in batting average (.398), runs (57), hits (78), OBP (.483) and total bases (132). He recorded the highest batting average of any Huskies hitter since 2001. A unanimous All-American, the Pennsylvania native went 12-for-19 in a series against No. 7 Texas Tech. The Twins’ 12th round pick this summer, Fedko hit .529 in his career at the Vincentian Academy.

Mullenbach worked 18.1 innings out of the FCL Twins bullpen, notching a 3.44 ERA prior to his promotion. The Lincoln Memorial University product made one appearance with Triple-A St. Paul in early June after being released by the New York Mets on April 26. Mullenbach ranks fourth in Railsplitters history in strikeouts (224), working 194.2 innings over four seasons at the Division II level. He posted a 2.84 ERA over 20.1 innings with Low-A Brooklyn in 2019.

Bentley had been the stopper in the Musses’ bullpen, posting a 1.50 ERA since May 27. In that span, the New Jersey native struck out 58 batters over 36 innings while allowing just 17 hits (0.97 WHIP). He leads the team with nine saves.

The Mussels will debut their new-look roster at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the newly-renovated TD Ballpark in Dunedin. All six games of the series against the Blue Jays will be broadcast live on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.