MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 17: Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey of the Minnesota Twins holds up a jersey with number one overall draft pick Royce Lewis and agent Scott Boras at a press conference on June 17, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 17: Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey of the Minnesota Twins holds up a jersey with number one overall draft pick Royce Lewis and agent Scott Boras at a press conference on June 17, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
The Minnesota Twins believed they had a strong draft after making their selections in 2017. A year later at that belief continues to be affirmed.
The Minnesota Twins had the most exciting draft position for fans, and probably also scouts and front office personnel, number one. In sports, we as fans love to obviously cheer for our teams as they compete on the field and make a run for championships. When our teams aren’t making a run at championships the consolation prize is a high draft pick, or in this case, the top pick of all the available prospects. Drafts are an aspect of fandom that draws unique interest and is an event in itself. NFL has capitalized the most on the unique fan interest in drafts making a whole weekend event surrounding their draft each spring.
While fans of NFL and NBA teams turn into the draft to see how the fortune of their team as early as the next season can be improved through who is selected. MLB fans tune into draft coverage rarely to see a player chosen that will impact the team that season or even the next. Instead, the MLB draft is about the long-term impact. That difference doesn’t drive us away from still being curious about who our favorite baseball team will select and may put on a major league uniform years down the road from draft day.
There is just something about the unknown nature of prospects that draws us all in. The increase in coverage with several great outlets now covering amateur and minor league baseball has only made it that much more fun and that much easier to follow for those of us who don’t live in baseball hotbeds.
The Minnesota Twins have recently been able to see a series of good prospects come through and make their Major League debuts. It is a crop of players that will hopefully form the core of some competitive Twins teams for years to come.
Byron Buxton leads that group and for years he headlined baseballs top prospect lists. Miguel Sano and Max Kepler were signed as free agents but also have headlined this group of good young players. Not to mention players like Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco who as Twins draft picks have helped to shape a solid core for the Twins.
The 2017 draft class is already drawing the type of reviews that makes many wonder if several that were chosen by the Twins last summer may make up the next wave of a great young Twins core. A year removed from their selections, let’s check in and see how those 2017 draft picks are doing at this point in their professional baseball careers.
There were many that were not too thrilled with the selection of Royce Lewis number one overall last season. Many thought that the Twins should have looked at some of the other big names and maybe none more than two-way player Hunter Greene. At this point in Lewis’ short career, no one is complaining. He has proven to be a very good baseball player, and as we will highlight later down this list, allowed the Twins to pay over slot for some very talented players later in the draft.
Lewis started his professional career with the GCL Twins where he hit .271/.390/.414 with a .803 OPS in 36 games. To fill out the stat sheet, he scored 38 runs, six doubles, two triples, three home runs, and 15 stolen bases. The Twins then promoted Lewis to Cedar Rapids, in the process having him skip a level, where he played 18 more games slashing .296/.363/.394.
Lewis started 2018 at Single-A Cedar Rapids where he is making a strong bid for a promotion. In 30 games he has a slash line of .311/.366/.370 and a .736 OPS with four doubles, a home run, and 12 stolen bases. Not to mention Lewis is doing this all while still being 19 years old and over two years younger than those he is competing against on average. With Nick Gordon being promoted to Triple-A recently. It will be interesting to see if the Twins might continue to move Lewis aggressively and have him skip another level and go straight to Double-A Chattanooga.
The Twins selected slugger Brent Rooker out of Mississippi State mainly because of his ability to hit the baseball. He has continued to showcase that he has a professional approach to baseball and working on his craft to become a good hitter at each level. After the draft, Rooker began his career in Elizabethton where he hit .282/.364/.588 with a .952 OPS, five doubles and seven home runs.
Then like Lewis, Rooker skipped a level and went straight to Fort Myers. In 40 games with the Miracle, Rooker hit .280/.364/.552 and a .917 OPS. He also logged six doubles, 11 home runs, and 35 RBIs. That set Rooker up to continually be pushed aggressively through the Twins minor league system and he began the 2018 season at Double-A Chattanooga.
Rooker is off to a bit of a slow start to begin the season but has still proven to be an impactful bat in a good Lookouts lineup. Rooker’s numbers sit at .233/.278/.374 with a .653 OPS, nine doubles and four home runs. Even with a slow start, Rooker could easily find his groove at the plate again and still see a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. There he would give a boost to a lineup lacking power. It also wouldn’t be inconceivable to see the 23-year-old in the majors sometime within the next couple seasons depending on how he continues to develop. Not to mention, Rooker is an excellent follow on Twitter always keeping his followers entertained.
With their first selection in the second round, the Minnesota Twins took right-handed high school pitcher Landon Leach out of Canada. He opened his time in professional baseball with the GCL Twins. In five games he went 2-0 in two starts, 13.1 innings with a 3.38 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. Leach has an interesting mix of pitches that he will continue to work on as he has started 2018 in extended spring training.
Because the Twins were able to save some money earlier in the draft, they were able to pay over slot for Louisiana high school right-handed pitcher Blayne Enlow. Enlow was a huge get for the Twins as he was rated as high as the top-15 by some talent evaluators and certainly closer to the first round than the third round by most. In Enlow’s first taste of professional action with the GCL Twins, he pitched in six games, went 3-0 in one start, pitched 20.1 innings with a 1.33 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, and 19/4 strikeout to walk ratio.
After a stint on the disabled list, Enlow has been pitching for Single-A Cedar Rapids in 2018. In five starts since coming off of the DL Enlow has pitched 18.2 innings holds a 4.34 ERA, 1.87 WHIP and a 14/7 K/BB ratio. Prospect writer Chris Blessing said of Enlow after seeing him pitch in a start recently, “Blayne Enlow up to 95 (mph) early. Lost some velo(city) into 4th. Flashing two plus pitches. Very raw thrower. Loads of potential.”
Charlie Barnes was selected by the Twins out of Clemson and went to Elizabethton after the draft. Barnes pitched in six games, starting five of them, was 2-1 with 22.2 innings pitched and had a 1.19 ERA, 1.06 WHIP. That earned Barnes a promotion to Cedar Rapids where he went 2-1 in six starts, 25.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a 23/8 K/BB.
Barnes’ performance in 2017 earned him a start in Single-A Fort Myers in 2018. In eight starts he hasn’t performed quite as well as he did at the other two levels. Barnes has logged eight starts and 38.2 innings. He holds a 1-4 record, 4.42 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and a 36/18 K/BB.
The Twins don’t have a lot in the way of third base prospects but Andrew Bechtold is one of them. Drafted out of Chipola College, Bechtold spent 2017 at Elizabethton where he hit .299/.406/.424 with a .829 OPS. He scored 33 runs, had 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs, and 19 RBIs. After a good season at rookie ball, Bechtold began 2018 at Cedar Rapids where he has struggled in 34 games and is slashing .165/.263/.198 with a .461 OPS.
The Twins picked up another solid shortstop prospect in the 6th round as they drafted Ricky De La Torre out of Puerto Rico HS. With the GCL Twins, De La Torre hit .268/.341/.359 with a 701 OPS. He also added 25 runs, three doubles, a triple, three home runs, 12 RBIs, and five stolen bases. De La Torre is currently in extended spring training.
The Twins drafted Ryley Widell out of Central Arizona College. In 2017 while playing for Elizabethton Widell went 0-2 in eight games and 29.2 innings pitched. In those innings, Widell turned in a 2.43 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and 41/20 K/BB ratio. Widell is also awaiting official 2018 action as he is working in extended spring training.
After being drafted out of Western Carolina, Bryan Sammons went to Elizabethton where he went 2-0 in seven games (three starts) and tossed 24.2 innings. Over that span, he held a 1.46 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and a 31/7 K/BB. Sammons was then promoted to Cedar Rapids. There he went 5-1 in 13 games throwing 50.1 innings with a 2.50 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 66/18 K/BB. To start 2018, Sammons has remained in Cedar Rapids. He is currently 0-3 over 34.0 innings with a 2.91 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. His K/BB ratio is currently at 27/12.
From Cal-Riverside, Mark Contreras went to Elizabethton. There he hit a good .275/.319/.421 with a .740 OPS. To open 2018, Contreras hit the cover off the ball while with Cedar Rapids. He slashed .440/.481/.560 and had a 1.041 OPS. That earned him an early promotion to Fort Myers where he continues to fill up the stat sheet even if his slash line isn’t quite as impressive. Contreras is currently hitting .260/.360/.438 and has seven doubles, two triples, and two home runs with the Miracle.
Right-hander Calvin Faucher came to the Twins out of Cal-Irvine. In Elizabethton in 2017, he went 3-0 in five games, pitched 7.1 innings, and recorded a save. Faucher held and ERA 1.23 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a13/3 K/BB. Faucher began 2018 with Fort Myers where at age 22 was a year younger than the league average. He struggled in six games and had a 7.30 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP before being sent to Cedar Rapids. Faucher has rebounded there holding a 0.00 ERA over 11 innings.
Day 3 Picks
As we enter into the Twins third day picks we are going to highlight a few of the players who are having an impact somewhere with one of the Twins full-season minor league affiliates.
The Twins selected right-handed pitcher Baily Ober out of the College of Charleston and sent him to Elizabethton in 2017. There he started four games and went 2-2, tossed 28 innings, and had a 3.21 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a very good 35/3 K/BB. To open 2018 Ober has pitched in five games for Cedar Rapids going 1-1 but struggling as he has a 7.84 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Ober has continued to keep up a good K/BB rate as it currently sits at 17/3.
Twins picked college shortstop Jordan Gore out of Coastal Carolina in the 19th round in 2017. After being drafted he made a stop in rookie ball Elizabethton and hit .389/.443/.500 and had a .943 OPS. That earned him a promotion to Single-A Cedar Rapids where he didn’t have quite the same early success where he slashed .221/.364/.411 and .775 OPS. The Twins chose to have Gore repeat Cedar Rapids to start 2018 where he is dominating once again, as he probably should as he is almost 2 years older than the average age of the league. Regardless of age, it is a good start as he hits .326/.402/.389 has four doubles and his 5/8 in stolen base attempts.
Right-hander Jared Finkel out of Iona had an impressive showing in 2017 in Elizabethton. Finkel pitched in 17 games going 2-1 and logged three saves and had a 2.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a 29/7 K/BB. He pitched in 2018 with Cedar Rapids appearing in 9 games with a 2-2 record, one save, a 3.72 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 13/6 K/BB, over 19.1 innings.
In round 38 we find the Twins selecting with their third to last pick, Ben Rodriguez out of Pepperdine. Rodriguez played 2017 with the GCL Twins where he had a solid line of .290/.399/.457 and a .856 OPS with 27 runs, 11 doubles, 4 home runs, and 40 RBIs. Playing primarily as a first baseman he has moved to Cedar Rapids in 2018 and is slashing .226/.295/.355. He has added six doubles and two home runs.
