The Minnesota Twins had multiple players featured on the Baseball America classification All-Star teams.
While the Minnesota Twins major league club makes a push for a playoff spot, the minor league season is complete, leaving award season in full force. That includes the recent classification awards from Baseball America. Let’s take a look at which Twins prospects made the lists:
Mitch Garver, C – Garver has been seemingly passed over on a number of postseason all star teams by other catchers who were in AAA this season, but he certainly has a great argument for the spot, as he hit .291/.387/.541 with 29 doubles and 17 home runs as a key piece of the Rochester lineup. Garver’s abilities behind the plate have increased every year to the point where he’s forced a discussion for 2018 how he will be used, even though the Twins just spent fairly substantial money on Jason Castro this past offseason.
Others who could have been considered
Aaron Slegers, RHP – Slegers may not be a guy who has dominant stuff, but his numbers compare quite well with those chosen for the AAA team this season. Slegers went 15-4 with Rochester in 24 starts, hurling 148 1/3 innings, with a 3.40 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 29/119 BB/K ratio. The wins would have led all five starters, but so would have the innings. While his strikeout rate would not have been the highest of the group of five, he would not have been the lowest, either.
Let’s take a look at some of the other teams to see how Twins prospects fared…
Gabriel Moya, RP – Before the Twins acquired Moya from the Diamondbacks for catcher John Ryan Murphy, Moya was already having an excellent season for Jackson in the Southern League. He simply moved to another roster in the same league and finished the season performing even better than he was before the trade, which is saying something, since he was sporting a 0.80 ERA at the time of the deal!
On his combined season between Jackson and Chattanooga, Moya appeared in 47 games, throwing 58 1/3 innings, finishing with a 6-1 record, 24 saves, a 0.77 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, a 15/87 BB/K ratio, and a .150 average against.
Others who could have been considered
Jonathan Rodriguez, 1B – After 8 years in the Cardinals organization, Rodriguez signed with the Twins this fall, and it may be the best decision he made for his career, as he had a huge season, hitting .309/.414/.525 for Chattanooga with 31 doubles, 21 home runs, and a pair of stolen bases. He capped off his season with a walk off home run to clinch the co-championship for Chattanooga. Certainly, Rodriguez’s numbers would be better than either the first base or DH choice for the AA team by Baseball America.
Stephen Gonsalves, LHP – Gonsalves missed nearly two months recovering to open the season. Once he was on the hill, however, he was one of the best in all of minor league baseball each time out, not just the Minnesota Twins system. Gonsalves made 15 starts with Chattanooga, going 8-3 over 87 1/3 innings, with a 2.68 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a 23/96 BB/K ratio. While his short season could be used against him, two of the five pitchers in the AA rotation for the BA team did not pitch the full season at the AA level. He certainly had the dominance numbers as well, as only one pitcher on the roster had a better K/9 rate.
Lewis Thorpe, LHP – Struggling to stay healthy has been the MO for Thorpe over his minor league career thus far. The Australian lefty has missed the 2015 and 2016 season, so getting 83 total innings from him was a positive thing for the Twins.
Thorpe made 16 appearances for Fort Myers, 15 of them of starts, throwing 77 innings, with a 2.69 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. He produced like his previous level of production would suggest, with a 31/84 BB/K ratio and a .225 average against.
While he made less starts than the selections for the team, he certainly was more productive than many of the pitchers chosen with the time he did have, with a lower ERA than 4 of the 5, a lower average against than 4 of the 5, and a higher strikeout rate than two of the choices.
Sam Clay, RP – The 2014 4th rounder from Georgia Tech made a full time transition to the bullpen this season, and it was a tremendous transition, to say the least. He appeared in 40 games for Fort Myers, throwing 65 relief innings, posting a 8-0 record, 1.38 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 32/63 BB/K ratio, and a .190 average against, not allowing a single home run on the season.
The relief selection for BA’s team was a pure closer who saved 30 games, but in all other numbers was Clay’s inferior.
Clark Beeker, RHP – It’s odd when one of the absolute best teams in the entire Midwest League is not represented at all on the team, but especially when one of the chosen All Stars for one of the leagues isn’t chosen, and all pitchers end up from one league of the level.
Beeker’s final numbers with Cedar Rapids of 11-3 over 20 starts, with 128 2/3 innings thrown with a 2.03 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 17/84 BB/K ratio, holding hitters to a .217 average. He had a lower ERA than any of the selections, a comparable average against, but he did not have the strikeout rate, and it’d be a shame if that’s the only reason that Beeker missed out.
Hector Lujan, RP – Again, like with the Midwest League awards, a pitcher who barely threw half the season with stats simply comparable to Lujan was chosen over him. Lujan made 42 appearances at the level, posting a 1.33 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, saving 17 games, and posting an 8/54 BB/K ratio along with an opponents’ average of .215 over 54 innings, roughly double the innings that the selection for the team threw at the level. Lujan walked as many hitters in his entire season as the selection did over roughly half a season.
Royce Lewis, SS – The #1 overall selection in the draft lived up to the draft stock, not only hitting well with GCL but then getting an aggressive promotion to low-A Cedar Rapids and not missing a beat. Lewis had more walks than strikeouts (19/17), and his overall line was .271/.390/.414 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs, stealing 15 bases.
Akil Baddoo, OF – Baddoo was an incredible athlete in the 2016 draft, with many assuming his impressive athleticism was going to take longer to develop baseball skills. Instead, Baddoo showed impressive plate discipline and very polished skills. He played with GCL and Elizabethton, so he had numbers combined between both rookie levels. Overall, Baddoo hit .323/.436/.527 with 19 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, and 9 stolen bases. He had an impressive 36/32 BB/K ratio.
Jovani Moran, RP – Returning from injury, the electric Moran perhaps has found a future dominant home in the bullpen. Moran made 11 appearances, going 3-1 with 2 saves in 11 appearances, throwing 24 2/3 innings, with a 0.36 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, and a 6/45 BB/K ratio.
Others who could be considered
Brusdar Graterol, RHP – Perhaps his numbers weren’t as impressive with just Elizabethton, but combined, Graterol had an excellent season, and the reports on him from both were so positive it’s hard to ignore his performance. Combined, Graterol had a 4-1 record in 10 appearances, 7 of them starts. He threw 40 innings with a 2.70 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and a 13/45 BB/K ratio. While his ERA would have been “high”, his other numbers were as good or better than any other honoree on the list.
Derek Molina, RP – Of course, Moran’s numbers were incredible, so it’s not an argument that Molina deserved the role over Moran, but certainly he was in the conversation with Moran as Molina went from a 14th round selection this year to putting up a 1.08 ERA over 16 2/3 innings with 4 saves, a 0.90 WHIP, and a 3/21 BB/K ratio.
Next: DSL
MIAMI, FL – MARCH 11: A closup of a Dominican Republic hat and glove during a Pool C game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic against the United States at Miami Marlins Stadium on March 11, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
Estamy Urena, 2B – Urena had a very solid season, exhibiting quality defense at second base while also hitting .306/.369/.434 with 7 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 4 stolen bases. He was a fixture in the #2 spot in the lineup quite frequently for the Twins as they played to the 2nd-best record in the entire league.
Alberoni Nunez, OF – The crazy part is that Urena was the only selection, though he was arguably the 3rd-5th best offensive player for the Twins this season. Easily the best hitter on the Twins was Nunez, who hit .352/.420/.545 with 9 doubles, 7 triples, 3 home runs, and 11 stolen bases. His numbers far outpaced any outfielder chosen for the team, outside of Fernando Kelli‘s incredible 58 stolen bases.
Yeltsin Encarnacion, IF – Even though he cooled down some from his extremely strong start to the 2017 season, Encarnacion finished with some of the best stats of any infielder while handling 2B/3B/SS aptly. Encarnacion finished with a .318/.408/.523 line with 9 doubles, 8 triples, 2 home runs, and 6 stolen bases. His OPS was actually higher than any infielder chosen for any of the positions around the infield.
Michael Montero, RHP – The Twins had excellent performances from a few starters, but the one that definitely was the ace of the staff was Montero, who led the team in innings pitched with 58 1/3 innings. On the season, he had a 4-1 record, with a 2.78 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 12/64 BB/K ratio. His K/9 was better than any pitcher chosen as a starting pitcher on the list.
Frandy Torres, RP – First, the relief pitcher chosen was hardly a relief pitcher, having appeared in relief 3 times out of 9 appearances, so he was primarily a starter. Torres is certainly not that. He was a pure reliever, making 23 appearances, throwing 37 2/3 innings with a 6-0 record and 10 saves to go along with a 0.72 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 13/34 BB/K ratio.
