BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 20: A Minnesota Twins cap and glove in the dug out before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at on August 20, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 20: A Minnesota Twins cap and glove in the dug out before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at on August 20, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
The Minnesota Twins have an exciting farm system. Here is our top 40 ranking of the Twins prospects as we continue onto prospects numbers 16-20.
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 21-25, 26-30, 31-35 and 36-40. Here are numbers 16-20 of the Puckett’s Pond prospect rankings.
No. 20 LaMonte Wade, OF, Rochester Red Wings
Nate’s Rank: 13, Gary’s Rank: 25
LaMonte Wade is a player that has been gaining more and more national attention as his career progresses. He has never truly been included in the list of the Twins top prospects but consistently is included on lists that are labelled in ways such as “guys to watch” or “under the radar.” Wade has made multiple appearances on the FanGraphs feature “The Fringe Five” as well this season.
After seeing time in the Arizona Fall League this past fall where Wade may remember more his scary collision in the outfield than his .238/.351/.413 slash line. The outfielder started his season back with Double-A Chattanooga where he performed exceptionally well. In 46 games, Wade hit .298/.393/.444, a .837 OPS, scored 30 runs, had two doubles and seven home runs.
Since moving up the level to Triple-A Rochester Wade has struggled in his first 60 games where he his 2.5 years younger on average than the rest of the competition at 24-years-old. Wade currently holds a slash line of .235/.357/.355 and has eight doubles and four home runs. It will certainly be Wade’s goal before the season is out to progress and move those offensive numbers in a positive direction.
Wade is anywhere from an average to just above average defensive outfielder. He can play some in centerfield but may wind up being a little better in a corner spot where he would likely become a plus defender. With his bat, Wade’s best attribute is that he is very good at getting on base. He may have the potential to display some power but ultimately will be a player with gap power, not home run power.
Wade has drawn comps to players such as Melky Cabrerahere and Nick Markakishere. If Wade develops into either of those as a 9th round draft pick the Twins would be happy with that sort of development.
No. 19 Gabriel Maciel, OF, Cedar Rapids Kernels
Nate’s Rank: 17, Gary’s Rank: 20
At the next spot on our rankings, we run into the outfielder who was the highest ranked prospect coming over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the trade for Eduardo Escobar. That is 19-year-old outfielder Gabriel Maciel. The Diamondbacks signed Maciel out of his native Brazil and he has performed well early in his professional baseball career.
In 2017, his second year as a pro baseball player, Maciel played in the rookie-ball Pioneer League where he hit .323/.389/.438 with a .827 OPS and added 14 doubles and nine stolen bases. That performance in 2017 earned Maciel the promotion to Single-A Kane County where he was hitting .287/.362/.333 with 10 doubles and 16 stolen bases before being traded to the Twins.
Since the trade, he has seen a dip in production as a member for the Kernels. Maciel in his 21 games in the Twins organization has hit .256/.307/.402 with two doubles and two stolen bases. Maciel will rely most heavily on two skills as he looks to climb up the minors and reach the major leagues someday. Those are his speed and his defense. Before this season, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo gave Maciel the honor of having the best tool grades in both running (65 grade) and defense (60 grade) in the Diamondbacks system.
It is that combination of skills in addition to his past proven ability to get on base that could turn Maciel into a good leadoff hitter and center fielder in the majors. One of the negatives on Maciel right now is even though he is fast, he needs to learn how to use his speed better. That can be seen in his stat line for this season. While he has stolen 16 bases he has also been caught stealing seven times. It will be interesting to see how his skills come together as Maciel matures.
No. 18 Ben Rortvedt, C, Fort Myers Miracle
Nate’s Rank: 24, Gary’s Rank: 12
Ben Rortvedt has been an intriguing prospect for the Twins since he was selected in 2016 with the Twins 2nd round draft pick, 56th overall. Some of the interest comes from the fact that Rortvedt plays a position in catcher that has been pretty shallow for the Twins in the recent past. He also comes to the Twins from a place not too far away from the major league club, Verona, Wisconsin.
Reading about how Rortvedt needed to approach his development as a baseball player in the small community of Verona just outside of Madison is one of inspiration. It puts on the display the exact type of work ethic a prospect needs to go from potential to major leaguer. It will serve him well as he continues to develop the defensive side of his game and grows his strength as a hitter.
In 2017, Rortvedt saw a bit of a dip with his bat as his slash line dropped down to .224/.284/.315. A lot of that can be attributed to a slow start in April and May. He has had a much more consistent 2018 after starting in Cedar Rapids and batting .276/.325/.386 with nine doubles and a home run and now moving to Fort Myers where he has continued on with a slash line of .253/.347/.373, seven doubles, and three home runs.
The box score numbers may not immediately impress, but after being drafted as a catcher out of high school and only 20-years-old there is a lot to be impressed with regarding Rortvedt’s development. If he continues to work like he did to get drafted there is a good chance Rortvedt will put on a major league uniform some day.
No. 17 Yunior Severino, 2B/SS, Elizabethton
Nate’s Rank: 22, Gary’s Rank: 14
We have all made decisions in life where we look back and wonder if that was the right one, right? My personal rank for Yunior Severino is one of those moments now as I sit to write about the talented hitting infielder. The Twins were able to acquire Severino after he was one of the many prospects allowed to become free agents after the MLB handed out punishments to the Atlanta Braves.
Severino signed with the Braves out of the Dominican Republic as a shortstop, but the belief was always that he would move to either second base or third base. Something that happened very quickly for Severino in a very crowded infield group in Atlanta. As part of the GCL Braves, Severino hit .286/.345/.444 in 48 games. Now part of the Twins he is still playing primarily as a second baseman with a few looks at short. As a member of the Elizabethton Twins he is hitting .259/.309/.391 with eight doubles and five home runs in 2018.
The switch hitting Severino’s is often most lauded for his hit tool. Prospect evaluators such has Jason Woodell often reference his quick wrists as well as the sound that Severino’s bat makes when it makes contact with the baseball. Woodell also wrote in the same piece that Severino should continue to fill out which may result in some added power.
The 18-year-old Severino is quite the get for the Twins. He was near the top of a very good group of Braves prospects that were released back into the free agent market. Severino now joins the mix of what has developed into a very good middle infield prospect group that is coming up through the Twins minor league ranks.
No. 16 Zack Littell, RHP, Rochester Red Wings
Nate’s Rank: 20, Gary’s Rank: 13
Zack Littell has now spent just a little more than a year in the Twins system after being traded to the Twins as part of the deal that sent Jaime Garcia to the New York Yankees at the 2017 trade deadline. Coming back to the Twins was Littell and Dietrich Enns. This season Littell received his first taste of the majors which had to be a great call to get even though the year has been a bit of a down year for the right-hander.
Littell’s overall ERA in the minors this season of 4.45 may be buoyed a bit by some rough final numbers in Double-A Chattanooga. At Double-A, Littell made 5 starts and finished with a 5.87 ERA but also had a 12.5 K/9 rate. Since moving to Triple-A Rochester the stat line reads much nicer as he has made 14 starts (appeared in 17 games total) and has a 3.63 ERA, 8.3 K/9, and 1.325 WHIP.
Littell doesn’t throw the ball hard and instead has to truly prove that he can pitch not just throw the ball. With a fastball that only reaches the low 90s, Littell finds success by using his good control to be able to work the zone while facing off against opposing batters. He also shows off an impressive spin rate which certainly helps Littell hold a respectable K/9 rate even though his fastball’s speed isn’t requisite of what we expect from a strikeout pitcher.
Next. Lewis, Kirilloff receive Midwest League honors. dark
While Littell’s major league journey was not pleasant as he only was able to last 3.1 innings over two games and allowed seven runs. There is still plenty of promise in his 22-year-old arm to be able to contribute to the Twins pitching staff soon. The question may become not whether he is deserving, but if there is room for him on the active 25-man roster.
