The Minnesota Twins assigned minor league prospect Daniel Palka to Triple-A this week.
Daniel Palka, a hard swinging outfielder, is getting assigned to Triple-A Rochester from Double-A Chattanooga.
The Minnesota Twins No. 27 prospect was an All-Star for the Lookouts and now will get the second half of the season with the Red Wings.
Palka is certainly deserving of the promotion as his numbers would indicate. He hit 21 home runs in 300 at-bats, drove in 65 runs, and slugged .547.
Palka leads the Southern League in all three of these statistics.
He’s on pace to shatter his career highs in home runs, RBI, and hits. While it seems unlikely he will hit 44 home runs and drive in 134 RBI, Palka could reach those totals.
It seems as though I’m too optimistic, or am I being realistic?
All it would take is Palka to step in as an everyday contributor and continue hitting at the same rate.
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With 56 games left in the Red Wings schedule, Palka theoretically could get another 243 at-bats. If his home run rate remained the same he could add about 17 home runs and 53 RBI.
When added to his season total, he’d have 38 home runs and 118 RBI.
The projections aren’t so crazy now.
The 24-year-old is making quite the impression this season.
About a month ago I profiled Palka and his impressive performances with the Lookouts. I noted his free swinging ability and likeness to Oswaldo Arcia.
Before I wrote about Palka a month ago, I wrote about his excellent start to the season in which I wondered if Palka can be a 20 HR-20 SB type of player.
With the Lookouts he had 21 home runs, as previously mentioned, and seven stolen bases.
I don’t see him becoming the 20-20 type of player because he’s busy hitting no-doubt home runs. Palka’s debut with the Red Wings went as he hit a double and two home runs.
WATCH Daniel Palka hit his first HR in his Triple-A debut (one of his two in tonight's win)...Also smashed a 2B. pic.twitter.com/D6KDZQG3N9
— Morrie Silver (@MorrieSilver) July 8, 2016
It’s important to remember Palka is not on the Minnesota Twins’ 40-man roster, yet.
I don’t think he’ll be added until later this season. But what I would like to see is a little competition between Adam Brett Walker and Palka.
Walker hasn’t had the best of seasons thus far. Walker is on nearly a 50 percent strikeout rate, worse than Palka, who strikeouts a lot too.
However, Palka is hitting for a better average than Walker.
Both are 24 years old. Both are power hitting corner outfielders. But as high as I am on Walker, Palka seems to have more value because of his higher batting average and on base percentage.
When it comes to fielding, both are slightly below average.
Palka can play first base, offering more versatility on defense as Walker has only played right of left field.
So far this season Palka has predominantly played in right field but did play three games at first base.
All-in-all, the trade of Chris Herrmann for Daniel Palka looks like a steal. Herrmann who is hitting above .290 in 50 games this season hasn’t hit above .213 in any season.
Next: Should Santana be Traded?
What figures to be nothing more than a breakout year, trading a poor hitting catcher for a top-30 power hitting prospect is shaping up to be one of the best trades the Minnesota Twins have made in quite some time.