Minnesota Twins: 5 minor league players who could impact the major league season
By Nate Palmer
Nick Gordon
Whenever you are a first-round pick there is excitement attached to you. That attachment only grows as you get closer and closer to the big leagues. After a good showing at the 2016 Arizona Fall League and a solid 2017 at Double-A, the excitement around Gordon has been on the rise. Even after being replaced as the top Twins prospect by Royce Lewis.
Another factor that ramped up the pleas for Gordon to make his appearance with the Twins in Minnesota was Jorge Polanco‘s 80-game suspension to begin the season. Smartly, the Twins front office has not rushed to call Gordon up to the big leagues to try to fill in for Polanco. Instead, they have relied on the combination of Eduardo Escobar and Ehire Adrianza to fill in and fill in well. If either of those two or Brian Dozier goes down with an injury, then the Twins front office could look more closely at calling Gordon up to take a role in the majors.
Gordon’s hot start at Double-A Chattanooga is certainly giving more reason to give the middle infielder a closer look. On the heels of a spring training where Gordon only impressed with the solid contact he was making with the baseball. He now is hitting .344/.382/.500, a .882 OPS, one double and two triples.
At some point Gordon should become a solid major league contributor. Whether that is at shortstop or second base we will wait and see. For 2018, Gordon will ideally remain in the minors but if needed he looks ready to meet the challenge of hitting major league pitching.
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There are our 5 players who could impact the Twins major league team as minor league call-ups in 2018. Did we miss a player you would have included? Let us know!