Holy Mother of God, what is going on here? Michael is wearing blue and not levitating. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

I enjoy the prospect world.  The prospect world is filled with unknown quantities.  However, the unknown is exciting to me.  I can set my expectations wherever I want them to be.  I rarely see Twins prospects play prior to their first appearance in a Twins uniform.  Yet, I can’t help but be fascinated by these players, many of whom I will never see even once.  My goal for these Twin of the Future profiles is to highlight players that aren’t considered top tier prospects.  There is a hint of irony in the title, as many of these players will never actually play a game in a Twins uniform.  Previously, I wrote about a slick-fielding, strong-armed shortstop named Niko Goodrum.  After that, I wrote about Joe Benson, a player who has donned a Twins uniform, but also has created doubts about whether he will ever suit up again.

Levi Michael shouldn’t be a part of this series.  Michael was selected in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft.  He was a college junior, and was said to be a low-floor, low-ceiling player, but one who could contribute for an MLB team in some capacity, and quickly to boot.  Michael wasn’t a 16 year old kid.  He was a seasoned baseball player, who had demonstrated enough skills at the University of North Carolina to be considered a safe pick.  He also projected to be a useful player, one who could possibly contribute all around the infield.

Michael is a switch hitter, with a line drive swing from both sides of the plate.  He has good, but not great speed and he could handle the shortstop position in college.  He had good plate discipline, as he walked 90 times in 115 games as a college sophomore and junior.  He didn’t have much power, and his slight frame doesn’t really indicate future power.  However, he had enough skills to be considered one of the safest picks in the 2011 draft.  I saw rumors that he was being considered in the early to mid-teens before landing at pick 30 with the Twins.

This all sounds pretty nice, right?  So what is Levi Michael doing in this space?

Levi Michael isn’t prominently featured as a top prospect in the Twins’ system.  This seems odd for a player with such an attainable ceiling and recent draft history.  As expected, Michael started at High A Fort Myers in 2012.  While there, he was pretty much the player he was in college, just up against different competition.  He still had good, but not great speed.  He still had good on-base skills.  He still had basically no power.  He spent half of the season as the team’s second baseman, replaced at times by fellow prospect Daniel Santana at the shortstop position.

If Michael was what he was expected to be, why has his prospect luster worn so quickly?

He isn’t a new toy anymore.  Going into 2012, the Twins farm system wasn’t considered anything to write home about.  Going into 2013, there is more optimism.  Aaron Hicks bounced back.  Byron Buxton and J.O. Berrios were drafted.  Daniel Santana, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco became legitimate prospects.  Levi Michael didn’t do anything to stand out, and that is enough to lose a bit of the shine that comes with his 1st round pedigree.  He fell down the middle infield prospect ladder, and now has multiple players he will need to prove his worth against, to be given a path to the MLB.

At his peak, Levi Michael could still be an MLB shortstop.  However, many feel that second base is a better position for his skill set, as he doesn’t have the natural range that most shortstops possess.  In addition, there are more interesting options in the system at that position.  He is more than capable at second base.  A second baseman with good on-base skills and little power has value.  The Twins love to plug a light hitting middle infielder in the 2 hole of the lineup.  Michael actually profiles as a player who could hit in that spot.  Michael could provide on-base skills that lead to many run producing opportunities for the 3-4-5 hitters.

Michael will never set the world on fire.  He likely will never be considered a top prospect.  However, I still see Michael wearing a Twins uniform within the next few years.  Everything I read seems to indicate that he has great makeup and his advanced approach should still allow him to move quickly through the system.  Honestly, he could end up being a better version of Brian Dozier, without the hype that he can’t live up to.  Perception is reality, and Michael might be the rare prospect with realistic expectations.  If fans can temper expectations that come with a typical first round draft pick, they could be pleasantly surprised with this former first round pick’s future contributions.

What are you looking for from this former 1st round pick?  Let me know on Twitter – @bridman77 or in the comments below.

You can read what I think about Niko Goodrum and Joe Benson, if you want to.  It’s not required.  

Last week, Puckett’s Pond’s own Shawn Berg shared his post-draft list of the top Twins’ prospects. In order, his top 10 were: Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Oswaldo Arcia, Liam Hendriks, Eddie Rosario, Joe Benson, J.O. Berrios, Aaron Hicks, Kyle Gibson, and Adrian Salcedo. Buxton and Berrios were just drafted, so we won’t be able to judge them for a while. Hendriks pitched well at AAA, though he has not quite figured out MLB hitters yet. But the news about the other seven has looked pretty bad lately.

Sano is one of the most talented baseball players on planet Earth, and we all expect him to smash long homers on a regular basis for the Twins by about 2015. But after a scorching start to this season at low-A Beloit, opposing pitchers seem to have gained an edge on Sano. In the last six games before the Midwest League All Star break, Sano went a paltry 3-19 with nine strikeouts, bringing his June batting average down to .203 and his season average to .237. He still has 15 homers on the season, and his power is unquestioned. But Sano has to get on track again and make more contact.

Miguel San is the brightest prospect in the Twins system, but even he is not immune to the recent outbreak of Slumpitis.

All things considered, Arcia may be having a better season than Sano. His homer total (seven) is much lower, but he has made contact on a consistent basis for the Fort Myers Miracle, to the point where he received a well-deserved promotion to AA New Britain. Arcia does not quite deserve the “slump” designation, it’s interesting to note that he went 3-22 in his last seven games before the promotion, lowering his average from over .330 to .309. He went 0-4 in his debut at New Britain Tuesday before doubling Wednesday night.

Rosario was doing just fine until about a week ago when he took a line drive to the face. He’ll miss about six weeks recovering from that injury; hopefully his hitting won’t suffer with the downtime. Benson is also an injury victim, suffering from a broken hamate bone. But Benson, who reached the Major Leagues last season, has been troubled by more than the injury. His weak hitting at AAA Rochester earned him a demotion to New Britain, where he is hitting just .156 in 32 at bats. Benson is far too talented a hitter to stay at that low level, but the injury will delay his return to prominence. Gibson falls in the same category as these two, but his injury “slump” is the deepest of all, as he’s missing nearly this entire season after elbow surgery. Salcedo is the fourth member of the top 10 dealing with an injury. Elbow problems have kept him out since May 10, when he gave up five runs in a third of an inning for Fort Myers. His ERA for the season is 5.64.

Hicks is not hurt, but he has put up disappointing numbers since his minor league career began, and this year is no different. He’s a potential five tool player, but the hitting tools haven’t been evident in the statline. This season, Hicks has a .244 batting average and six homers for New Britain. Since the end of April, he’s hitting just .220. The conventional wisdom (at least among Twins’ fans on the internet) is that Hicks’ slump would end if he just gave up switch-hitting. He is a much better hitter from the right side. That approach has not been tested, though.

Even aside from the team’s top 10, there are plenty of injuries and slumps to be found. Alex Wimmers was drafted in the first round a year after Gibson, and he suffered a severe elbow injury a year after Gibson did. Early indications are that he won’t need Tommy John surgery, but with the Twins, early indications are often wrong. Last year’s first round pick Levi Michael was considered far enough along in his development to debut at Fort Myers this season, but Florida State League pitchers are proving pretty tough for him. He is hitting just .216/.317/.293 through 57 games. That’s nothing compared to the struggles of second round pick Madison Boer, though. Boer earned a promotion to Fort Myers in early May, but since then he has been battered to an ERA of 8.41 in nine starts.

Add it all up, and that’s an inordinate amount of slumps and injuries. None of these players should be considered a bust at this point, and there’s not reason to think that most of them won’t snap out of their slumps. But it sure is disappointing to see so many promising players faring so poorly all at once, especially since the Twins need to look to their youngsters as part of the team’s rebuilding process. Don’t worry so much about what happens to the Twins in the second half of the 2012 season – keep a closer eye on what happens to these prospects. If several of them can bust out of these slumps it will be an encouraging sign for the future.