Byron Buxton, Others, Lead Twins Minors into Second Half

Several Prospects Surprise

Of course, besides the big name prospects, there are always a few guys who spring up as pleasant surprises. One such player is Minnesota native Mike Kvasnicka. The Lakeville outfielder and former Golden Gopher is hitting .278/.309/.443 for the Rock Cats so far, good for a .752 OPS. These numbers don’t pop immediately, but it’s worth noting that Kvasnicka has been on fire over his last ten games. Over this span, he’s hitting .359/.359/.641. That adds up to an even 1.000 OPS. He has homered twice, doubled five times, and driven in 7 runs during his hot streak. It’s a bit concerning, however, that he hasn’t drawn a single walk since his bat has heated up. He’ll most likely regress sooner rather than later, but he has certainly put himself on the radar.

Another player to watch is Fort Myers backstop Alex Swim. He’s a guy you probably hadn’t heard of coming into the season, but like Kvasnicka, he’s done the work to get noticed. Swim is currently on a 12 game hitting streak, during which he is hitting an astounding .458. Only three of his 21 hits over this span have been for extra bases, and he has only walked four times (six total BB on the season). Swim is another candidate for regression, but it’s still nice to see him perform well. Most of this work was done in Cedar Rapids, but it was good enough for a recent promotion to Fort Myers.