Puckett’s Pond’s Minnesota Twins 2018 Top-40 prospects: 26-30
The Minnesota Twins have an exciting farm system. Here is our top 40 ranking of the Twins prospects as we continue onto prospects numbers 26-30.
The Minnesota Twins have had a disappointing 2018 season. Out of survival, we as fans have to find something to root for when our teams are not performing well. Which causes us to often then turn our attention to what is next for our favorite team, for baseball that means the prospects in the minors. That special attention gives added intrigue to this series which takes a unique look at the Twins current crop of prospects as we at Puckett’s Pond put on our talent evaluating caps to rank the Twins prospects.
What else makes this not only an intriguing but also an exciting group to rank is that the Twins have made several additions to their prospect ranks during their sell-off at the trade deadline. All those new faces are players we haven’t gotten much of a look and learning about those new players can always be a fun exercise as well.
This list is a group effort by several writers here at Puckett’s Pond. Know that we each have our own opinion on players but have put our rankings together to compile this list. Some or all of us will have ranked certain players in a much different place than where they will land on this ranking. That is just how this sort of exercise works.
With that here is the first instalment of our rankings as we look at what is now often regarded as a top-10 farm system in baseball. We have already covered prospects numbers 31-35 and 36-40. Here are numbers 26-30 of the Puckett’s Pond prospect rankings.
No. 30 Griffin Jax, RHP, Fort Myers Miracle
Nate’s Rank: 33, Gary’s Rank: 31
Many fans likely learned first about Griffin Jax more because of his off the field service to our country than his on the field baseball contributions. That is to change soon as he is beginning to make his mark on the Twins minor league system now that he has been able to get some regular games in.
The Twins drafted Jax in the 3rd round of the 2016 draft out of the United States Air Force Academy. It was a bit of a surprise to see Jax drafted that early as major league teams liked Jax’s talent, but were concerned about how is military commitment might affect his ability to work on baseball.
The right-handed Jax, has worked primarily as a starter in his three seasons connected with the Twins. 2018 has been the season where he been able to get the most work on a minor league mound as he has qualified for the World Class Athlete Program as he fulfils his Air Force duties. In 2017 as a member of the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Jax started 4 games and tossed 26.1 innings while holding a 2.39 ERA and 0.987 WHIP. This season Jax has climbed the ladder to Fort Myers where he has started 11 games, tossed 74.0 innings, holds a 3.16 ERA and 1.108 WHIP.
Jax’s mid-90’s fastball is his best pitch. He has also employed a curveball, changeup, and slider to compliment it. There is nothing fancy about Jax’s approach but as Benjamin Chase points out he his simply consistent and disciplined in his approach on the mound. Jax may not be a top line starter but could certainly develop into a mid to back-end of the rotation starter for the Twins after some years of development.
No. 28 Luis Rijo, RHP, Elizabethton Twins
Nate’s Rank: 31, Gary’s Rank: 28
The Minnesota Twins just recently brought Luis Rijo into their farm system as he was included in the package alongside Tyler Austin that the Twins received in return for starting pitcher Lance Lynn. It feels like the second trade in less than a year that the Twins have completed with the New York Yankees where the Twins may have been able to take full advantage of the Yankees having a surplus of good players that occupy the same position in their organization. The trade for Jake Cave being the other.
Rijo came to the Yankees as an international free agent in 2015. The right-hander is still very young at only 19-years-old but has the markers of a pitcher who could develop into a quality option in a major league rotation. As evaluated by 2080 baseball, Rijo has a fastball that sits 92-93 mph and a power curveball which breaks with sharp action at 75-76 mph. If Rijo wants to be a quality major league pitcher he will have to develop a better third pitch, right now that is his low-80s changeup.
Rijo has pitched across three levels of the minors this season. He has pitched at both Single-A levels while with the Yankees but has spent most of his time in the Rookie ball Appalachian League where he starts his Twins career. In total Rijo has pitched 49.1 innings in 2018 and holds a 2.19 ERA, 1.115 WHIP, and has 38 strikeouts and six walks. In two starts with Elizabethton, Rijo has gone 10.1 innings and has allowed five unearned runs in one bad outing.
Rijo is another arm that may never develop into an ace level pitcher but has the opportunity to develop into another solid mid to back-end of the rotation arm. He is another piece in the pitching depth the Twins front office has clearly focused on building up.
No. 27 John Curtiss, RHP, Rochester Red Wings
Nate’s Rank: 27, Gary’s Rank: 26
After taking a look at three young pitchers who are a few years away from major league possibilities, we now shift our attention to a player who has had a chance to pitch on the major league stage. Not only has John Curtiss had a chance to pitch in the majors, many fans are now waiting for him to get another chance with the Twins 2018 season a lost one.
At age 25, Curtiss continues to employ the sort of arsenal of pitches that make him a very intriguing bullpen arm. Curtiss has a mid-90s fastball which has been recorded as reaching as high as 98 mph. The right-hander will most likely become a two-pitch reliever relying on a breaking ball to keep batters off-balance. To get the most out of his breaking ball as pointed out Minor League Ball, Curtiss will vary the speed of his breaking ball between 79 and 87 mph.
As pointed out earlier, Curtiss has logged 9.1 innings in the major leagues. The results haven’t been good so far as he has allowed 11 earned runs in those innings, but does have a positive 10.6 K/9 over those 11 appearances. In Triple-A Curtiss has done very well for the Red Wings in 2018. He has appeared in 33 games, tossed 48.2 innings, holds a 2.77 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 with eight saves.
There doesn’t appear to be much more for Curtiss to prove in Triple-A and it will be good for him to continue and get looks in the majors to refine his approach. He could certainly develop into a late-inning bullpen option for the Twins down the road.