Kernels Popping Up: Javier and Rucker Coming to St. Paul
September 17, 2022 – International League (IL) – St. Paul Saints News Release
ST. PAUL, MN – The Saints found themselves down to a single position player available off their bench on Friday night, but help is on the way in the form of infielders Wander Javier and Jake Rucker from Cedar Rapids. The Kernels’ season ended Friday night in Game 3 of the Midwest League Divisional Series.
Javier, 23, was slashing .209/.273/.362 in 109 games with the Kernels. He has matched his career-high with 12 home runs and driven in a career-high 59. He has drawn 30 walks to 129 strikeouts. He had a stellar month of July, hitting .295 with an .838 OPS.
The Bonao, Dominican Republic native has spent each of the last three seasons in Cedar Rapids (the last two as the High-A affiliate). In 2021 he hit .225 in 96 games with 15 doubles, 10 triples and 12 homers. His 10 triples were the second-most in the Midwest League.
Javier did not see any action during the 2020 shutdown, but was ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Twins system, per MLB.com.
In 2019, Javier entered the season as the number four prospect in the organization, according to Baseball America. He missed the early part of the season with a strained quad, not debuting until May 25. He hit .177 in 80 games with the Kernels, reaching double-digit homers for the first time in his career, and the start of a three-year run of 10-or-more homers. After the season, he was named the best defensive infielder in the Twins’ minor league system by Baseball America.
Injuries had plagued the early parts of his career, as he missed the entire 2018 season with a torn left labrum.
In his first full season in 2017, Javier played 41 games with rookie-level Elizabethton, hitting .299 with 13 doubles and four home runs.
He played just nine games in his professional debut in 2016 due to a hamstring injury. Despite that, he went 8-26 with three doubles and a pair of home runs.
Javier was signed by Fred Guerrero on July 2, 2015 for $4 million, the third-highest total in the international class.
Rucker, 23, joins the Saints in his second professional season. He was slashing .262/.345/.447 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 35 runs driven in through 60 games. Defensively, he played first base, second base, third base, left and right field. He started the season in Fort Myers, where he hit .225 with nine doubles, four triples, and a pair of long balls.
The Nashville, Tennessee native made his professional debut last season with the Mighty Mussels, playing in 22 games and hitting .265. He walked 10 times while striking out 16 times.
Rucker was drafted in the seventh round in 2021 out of the University of Tennessee. In his final season in Knoxville, he was named First Team All-SEC at third base, a Baseball America Third Team All-American and a Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American. In his junior season, he led the Volunteers with 90 hits, ranking seventh in the nation and third in the SEC while batting .330.
No stranger to the big stage, Rucker was a member of the 2012 Little League World Series United States Championship team from Goodlettsville, TN. They lost in the World Championship to Japan 12-2.
The Saints roster now consists of 27 players, with 15 pitchers and 12 position players, six below the league maximum of 33.
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