Minnesota Twins: 5 minor league players who could impact the major league season

Brent Rooker

Last season at this time if you would have told me I would be writing down the name of the Twins 35th pick in the 2017 draft. I wouldn’t have believed you. At that point in time, I also didn’t know that pick would be Brent Rooker and the Twins new front office would so willing to quickly moving him through the minors.

After being drafted out of Mississippi State last summer, all Rooker has done is hit baseballs. In his first full professional season, he spent time in rookie ball and then skipped Low-A and went straight to High-A Fort Myers to finish the season. Between those two levels Rooker hit .281/.364/.566 and a .930 OPS. He also added to that line 18 home runs and 11 doubles.

There has been nothing but good things said about Rooker’s approach at the plate. The Twins front office has felt confident enough in Rooker that at the start of his second season, and first full season, in the Twins system he has been assigned to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts.

Rooker is off to a slow start in his first 7 Double-A games slashing .200/.231/.200. Even with the slow start, if he does begin to hit Double-A pitching well it would be no surprise to see him be moved around. A jump to Triple-A by midseason or even to the majors at some point if the right situation presented itself is very possible. Right now the team is crowded in Rooker’s potential positions, but injuries can change that in a hurry. Just like Rooker’s power can change a game in a hurry.