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Minnesota Twins Top 100 Prospects: 61-80

By Benjamin Chase

ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 05: A view of baseball gloves prior to the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Minnesota Twins on Opening Day at Angel Stadium on April 5, 2010 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 05: A view of baseball gloves prior to the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Minnesota Twins on Opening Day at Angel Stadium on April 5, 2010 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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65. Jonathan Rodriguez, 1B, Chattanooga/Rochester

Born: 8/21/1989
2017 Stats: .303/.408/.518, 22 HR, 2 SB, 81/118 BB/K
Info: After 8 seasons in the St. Louis Cardinals system, Rodriguez selected free agency last fall, and the Twins picked him up. Little did they know how much he would not only show as a player in the Twins system, but also how much of an influence he would be within the Twins organization. Rodriguez is a big man at 6’2″ and 250 pounds, but he’s quite athletic around the bag. What was impressive was Rodriguez’s bat control. Certainly he has power in his frame, but he had the ability to take a walk as well as avoiding strikeouts. A good argument could have been made for Rodriguez moving up to Minnesota over Kennys Vargas or Byungho Park out of Rochester, but Vargas was on the 40-man. It will be very interesting to see if the Twins keep Rodriguez around as he’s 28 now, but he has seen a change in his swing this past season that worked well at the upper minors and should be given a shot to work at the major league level somewhere, especially on a team needing some right handed power alongside Miguel Sano in the lineup.

64. Clark Beeker, RHP, Cedar Rapids, Fort Myers

Born: 11/22/1992
2017 Stats: 143 2/3 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 23/93 BB/K
Info: The Twins took Beeker out of Davidson in the 33rd round in the 2016 draft. He’s a guy who works at 90 MPH, touching 93 with an excellent change up. He works in an average slider and curve that rely strongly on location to play up. Beeker did exactly that in 2017 at Cedar Rapids, struggling some in high-A with Fort Myers after promotion. If he can keep the ball in the zone and hitting his spots, Beeker has the sort of stuff that isn’t going to generate swing and miss, but keeps extra runners off base well enough to work at the very back of a rotation, but as seen in Fort Myers, when he starts to miss his spots, things get hairy.

63. Cody Stashak, RHP, GCL/Fort Myers/Chattanooga

Born: 6/4/1994
2017 Stats: 95 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 20/90 BB/K
Info: Stashak was a 13th round selection out of St. John’s in 2015. He’s been starting with Twins levels ever since, and while he’s not blowing away hitters with strikeout rates, he’s found success at each level thus far. However, what was impressive was when he moved to the bullpen for Chattanooga’s playoff run, making 3 appearances, throwing 6 innings without allowing a run and putting up a 0/10 BB/K ratio. He works with a 90 MPH fastball, but he has excellent movement on the pitch, and he works from a high pitch slot, which is something a lot of pitchers don’t use, so it could work really well from the bullpen with his two breaking pitches and the high arm slot, likely seeing his fastball tick up from 92-93 tops as a starter to more like 94ish as a reliever.

62. Dereck Rodriguez, RHP, Fort Myers/Chattanooga

Born: 6/5/1992
2017 Stats: Not a lot of players get to take time off of their minor league season to go watch their father’s Hall of Fame induction, but not everyone is Ivan Rodriguez‘s son, either. Rodriguez has had an interesting run through the Twins system, originally drafted in 2011 as an outfielder, but moving to pitching after three seasons in the grass. He’s been off the mound now for four seasons, and he’s really developed into a quality starter that has a ceiling of a mid-rotation starter and could settle as a solid back end starter. He also has the sort of stuff and rubber arm that would allow him to possibly work very well as a reliever, either as a long-man or a 7th inning guy that could go multiple nights in a row. Rodriguez is eligible to be a minor league free agent this winter, and that will be something to watch.

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61. Sean Poppen, RHP, Cedar Rapids/Fort Myers

Born: 3/15/1994
2017 Stats: 139 IP, 3.17 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 25/122 BB/K
Info: Last summer, the Twins selected Poppen out of Harvard in the 19th round, and he has expressed that he could have been selected after 2015, but he chose to attend one more season of school. Certainly, Poppen is the smartest guy in the system (only slightly joking), with enough other options in his life that he doesn’t “need” baseball. Poppen works with a fastball that sits in the low-90s with really impressive movement low in the zone. He works with a slider and change that he knows how to manipulate multiple ways as well. Poppen’s strong season should put him on the short list for Chattanooga’s rotation to open 2018, and continued progress could push him forward as a mid-rotation or back-rotation option.

Next: Twins Arbitration Eligibles

Tomorrow we will continue with #41-60. Any disputes? Guys you expected to see higher on the list? Guys you were surprised were on the list at all? Comment below!

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