St. Paul – The St. Paul Saints had plenty to celebrate Wednesday night after their 14-4 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers. In his postgame victory speech, St. Paul Saints manager Brian Dinkelman paused to share an important announcement with the team. The Minnesota Twins called up Gabriel Gonzalez to the big leagues to make his major league debut in Boston this weekend.
“It was exciting,” Dinkelman said. You know, give a guy the first opportunity to get the big leagues for the first time, even if it’s for a short period of time, just to get the experience up there and then realize he’ll be in the big leagues on a full-time basis. He was excited for the opportunity, and we’re looking forward to watching him play.”
“It was great,” teammate Marco Raya said of Gonzalez’s call-up. “Just hearing the news and witnessing that for him. Just his reaction and seeing all the hard work he puts in behind closed doors just made us really happy to see him get his opportunity, and just seeing his face light up was great.”
Gabriel Gonzalez, 21, is going up in place of infielder Tristan Gray, who is going home to his wife, Madelyn, as they welcome their second child into the world. This season at Triple-A, Gonzalez has put up a .216/.294/.392 with eight home runs, 21 RBI, a 9.1% walk rate, and 19.8% strikeout rate in 197 plate appearances over 44 games.
Gonzalez started the 2026 season cold, posting a .180/.237/.385 slash line, 5.3% walk rate, and 21.4% strikeout rate over 131 plate appearances. While the contact wasn’t there for him to start, Gonzalez still showed flashes of his power with seven of his eight home runs over those first 30 games.
But Gonzalez has heated up recently. Over his last 14 games, Gonzalez has put up a .296/.409/.407 slash line, one home run, seven RBI, 11 walks, and 11 strikeouts.
He was 2-for-4 with a couple of singles, a walk, and an RBI in Wednesday night’s game, continuing a mini-six-game hitting streak dating back to May 15. It was already a good night at the plate for Gonzalez to celebrate. Still, when Dinkelman broke the news about his call-up to the clubhouse, he was overcome with pure joy.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Saints hitting coach Shawn Schelchter. “One, because guys have seen the hard work he puts in, and going through his struggles early on, and seeing him have some recent success. Then watching him get to share that moment with everyone was great.”
However, Emmanuel Rodriguez missed the festivities, and he had probably spent more time with Gabriel Gonzalez, both on and off the field, than any other teammate this year. Rodriguez was in the Twin Cities, just not at CHS Field, when the Saints game had concluded.
He was flying back from his left thumb surgery with Dr. Thomas J. Graham in Philadelphia, which will repair his torn UCL ligament in his thumb. Rodriguez had landed back with one of the trainers when Dinkelman broke the news of Gonzalez’s call-up. As sad as Rodriguez was not to be there for one of his good friends, he knew that he’d make it back in time to their apartment to congratulate his roommate on the news.
“I just felt really happy for him; it was emotional news,” Rodriguez said via teammate Marco Raya, who translated on his behalf. “With us being roommates, I was able to get back home and give him a big hug and congratulate him, just give him some advice, and told him to be himself when he gets up there.”
Even though Gonzalez may only be up for the few days Gray is on paternity leave, a major league call-up is a major league call-up. Once a player gets the call, nobody can take it away. While it’s still not known if and how the Twins will use Gonzalez this weekend in Boston, potentially making his major-league debut in MLB’s oldest stadium will be an unforgettable weekend for him.
“That’s what we live for,” said Schlecter. “That’s why we do this job, and you can just tell the pure joy in his face amongst his peers how excited they were for him.”
