It took less than a month for Wichita Wind Surge to produce MLB player for the Twins
Four days after hitting a walk-off home run in Wichita for the Wind Surge, Gilberto Celestino was called up by the Minnesota Twins to make his MLB debut on Wednesday.
Celestino, a 22-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic, is the first Wind Surge player to reach the major leagues after starting for the Twins in center field and batting ninth in their lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. He went 0 for 2 at the plate.
The Twins opened a four-game series with the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday and Celestino fared even worse. He made two errors on the same play that allowed Jarrod Dyson to score the go-ahead run in a 6-5 Royals win. Celestino dropped a fly ball in left-center field after nearly colliding with the left fielder, then threw wildly into the infield.
In 21 games in Wichita, Celestino had a .250 batting average with two home runs and seven runs batted in.
His stay in Wichita ended with his most memorable swing — Celestino drove a 1-2 pitch opposite field over the right-field fence for a walk-off home run in last Saturday’s 10-9 win over Springfield at Riverfront Stadium.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 6:26 PM.
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