Former Oklahoma State Catcher Makes Fast Move to Triple-A St. Paul

The strange minor league journey of former Oklahoma State catcher Ian Daugherty continued Friday.

Daugherty made a rare two-affiliate jump as the Minnesota Twins promoted him from High-A Cedar Rapids to Triple-A St. Paul before the Saints’ game with Toledo. Daugherty did not play. In his place, catcher Luis Hernandez was sent down to Cedar Rapids. St. Paul announced the move via social media.

The move was notable for a couple of reasons. First, Daugherty never played at Cedar Rapids and has never played at the Twins’ Double-A affiliate. Second, this puts him one step away from the Majors.

Ian Daugherty’s Pro Journey

Ian Daugherty MOONSHOT🚀🌕

His first Hammond Stadium homer cuts into the St. Lucie lead!

Exit Velocity: 102.2 mph🔥

Top 4 | Mets 2, Mussels 1 pic.twitter.com/HPRWMrGyqr
— Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (@MightyMussels) September 5, 2025

Daugherty was not drafted by any MLB team when he came out of college in 2025. He signed a free-agent deal with the Minnesota Twins, and he was assigned to Minnesota’s Florida Complex League team. He didn’t play in a game there but was later sent to Class-A Fort Myers, where he played nine games and slashed .222/.364/.481 with two home runs and seven RBI in nine games.

His transaction log shows that he was briefly assigned to the organization’s Double-A affiliate in Wichita to end the 2025 season, but he did not play.

To start the 2026 season, he was assigned to St. Paul, which appeared to be a largely procedural move because he was optioned back to Fort Myers on April 2. On May 26, he was moved to Fort Myers’ developmental list after he slashed .108/.216/.169 with one home run and five RBI. Players are usually put on the developmental list to take them off the active roster so they can work on areas where they’re struggling.

On June 2 he was assigned to Cedar Rapids from Fort Myers but never played. Then he moved to St. Paul. The Saints are carrying four catchers as of Friday — David Bañuelos, Noah Cardenas, Ian Daugherty and Ricardo Olivar, the last of which is on the 60-day injured list. St. Paul transferred him to the 60-day IL on June 4, a move that likely led to Daugherty’s call-up. Whenever he plays, it will be his Triple-A debut.

Daugherty played four years with the Cowboys as he slashed .264/.366/.475 with 19 home runs and 69 RBI. He missed considerable time during the 2023 season due to injury. He played high school baseball at Kingfisher in Kingfisher, Okla., where his father was drafted by the New York Mets in 1995.

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