IL St. Paul Saints

Saints Add Trio of Players to Plug Holes on Roster

Published on May 11, 2021 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - After losing three players to injury and another four to call-ups to Minnesota, the St. Paul Saints' roster was getting thin. Reinforcements arrived on Monday in the form of infielders Yelstin Encarnacion, Daniel Ozoria and Damek Tomscha.

Encarnacion comes to the Saints from High-A Cedar Rapids. Through just four games this season, the switch-hitting Encarnacion had a .308 average (4-13) with three RBIs. Defensively, he's spent the start of the season at second base for the Kernels and made one pitching appearance.

He did not see any action in the 2020 season, but in 2019 he set career-highs with three home runs and 36 RBIs spanning three levels of the Twins' organization. The 22-year-old got his first taste of Triple-A baseball in 2019 with Rochester, playing three games with the Red Wings. He went 5-11 with a double and scored three runs.

A career .274 batter, Encarnacion was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent on February 23, 2015.

Ozoria joins the Saints' roster from the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels in the Low-A Southeast. He's played in five games in the early stages of the season, playing at second base, third base and shortstop. He also saw some time on the mound in a 18-9 loss to Bradenton, pitching 2.2 innings of shutout baseball. Offensively, he just got his first hit of the season, going 1-4 in that loss, the game he also pitched. He had a .125 average (1-8) before coming to the Saints.

Ozoria did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season. He played his first year in the Twins' system in 2019, spending nearly the whole season with Cedar Rapids, where he hit .190 over 58 games and hit his first career home run. He also stole 15 bases that season, after just swiping six bags the year before.

Ozoria has hit for a .211 average during his career that started with the Angels organization, who originally signed him as an undrafted free agent in August of 2016, but was then traded to the Twins on January 15th 2019 in exchange for RHP John Curtiss.

Tomscha is a seven-year minor league veteran, beginning his third stint in Triple-A. He started the season with Double-A Wichita, going 4-16 with a double and three RBIs and gathering hits in the first four games of the season. He spent time on both corners of the infield on defense, as well two games as a designated hitter.

In 2020 Tomscha played in the American Association with the Sioux Falls Canaries, where he hit .320 during the regular season, which was seventh in the league. He also ranked among the league's best in triples (1st), RBIs (3rd), hits (5th), slugging % (5th) and was named a Post-Season All-Star at third base.

Tomscha has played 81 career games at Triple-A, splitting time with Lehigh Valley (PHI) and Charlotte (CWS) in 2018 and 2019. Over his minor league career, he's a .273 career hitter with 55 home runs and 302 RBIs in 608 games. He was drafted by the Phillies in 2014 in the 17th round, and was with their organization through 2019 when he released and then signed by the White Sox to a minor league contract. He signed a minor league contract with the Twins on March 3rd, 2021.

The Saints have placed INF Tzu-Wei Lin and INF Zander Wiel on the 7-Day IL, retroactive to 5/9. INF Drew Maggi was placed on the 7-Day IL retroactive to 5/10.

The Saints roster currently stands at 29 players, 18 pitchers and 11 positions players.

Check out the St. Paul Saints Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from May 11, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central