MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 24: Mascot T.C. of the Minnesota Twins during the pre-game against the Oakland Athletics at Target Field on August 24, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 24: Mascot T.C. of the Minnesota Twins during the pre-game against the Oakland Athletics at Target Field on August 24, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
The Minnesota Twins draft selections are soon finishing their first seasons as professional and here is a look at some of the notable performers.
The Minnesota Twins 2018 draft class lacked the splash of other recent drafts but they managed to land four players who made it to Class A Cedar Rapids, along with a number of other young players that are showing early promise. Last month in a similar post I selected thirteen notable players to highlight.
While this month’s list drops to an even dozen, the overall outlook on the group has improved with time. Here is a look at the returns on twelve notable Minnesota Twins selections from the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Round 1, Pick 20: RF Trevor Larnach
Cedar Rapids A-Level, Age 21, 6′ 4″, 210 lbs MLB Top 200 Draft Rank: 26, Slot Value: $3,120,000, Signed For: $2,550,000
Trevor Larnach adjusted quickly to the rookie league E-Twins after helping to lead the Oregon State Beavers to the College World Series championship. He had a slash line of .311/.413/.492, and OPS of .905, with a pair of home runs,16 RBI’s in 61 at-bats. Known for his strong plate discipline, Larnach carried over his strong plate discipline skills to professional Elizabethton with 10 walks against 11 K’s.
Larnach was promoted to Class-A Cedar Rapids in early August. A first-year promotion to full-season is considered a good sign for a player’s future success. He is holding his own for the Kernels with a slash line of .293/.338/.480, an OPS of .818, with a pair of home runs in 75 at-bats. Larnach has a respectable 11/5 strikeout to walk ratio.
The right fielder has yet to commit an error in the field and has two outfield assists on the season.
Trevor Larnach is #5 on our midseason Twins prospects rankings.
Round 2, Pick 59: C/DH Ryan Jeffers
Cedar Rapids A-Level, Age 21, 6′ 4″, 228 lbs
MLB Top 200 Draft Rank: Unranked Slot Value: $1,140,600 Signed For: $800,000
Ryan Jeffers was assigned to Class A Cedar Rapids from the Rookie League E-Twins on July 18. He was leading the Appalachian League in batting average, on-base percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage, and is seventh in slugging percentage at the time of his promotion. His slash line at Elizabethton was a stunning .422/.543/.578, for an On-base Plus Slugging percent of 1.121, with seven doubles, four home runs, 20 walks, and 16 K’s!
Jeffers was struggling at Cedar Rapids in my previous update. He had just two hits in 19 at-bats over his first five games. He broke out with 13 hits in his next 22 at-bats and has since proven to be a core player in the Kernels line-up. In 31 Class-A games, Jeffers is posting an impressive slash line of 294/.364/.471, with an OPS of .834. He has four home runs and 15 RBI’s, 22 strikeouts and 11 walks in 119 at-bats.
Jeffers is splitting time as a designated hitter and as a catcher. The Kernels have him sharing catching duties with David Banuelos, who Seattle sent to the Twins last winter for $1 million in international bonus pool money. Jeffers had a spotty record defensively in E-Town committing two errors and allowing two passed balls in ten games behind the plate. His record is spotless so far over 157 innings in Cedar Rapids. For the season, Jeffers has gunned down three of 14 attempted base stealers.
The 295th ranked pre-draft prospect by Baseball America.
Ryan Jeffers is 10th on our midseason Twins prospects rankings.
Round 4, Pick 124: CF DaShawn Keirsey
Elizabethton Rookie League, Age 21, 6′ 2″, 195 lbs
MLB Top 200 Draft Rank: 144, Slot Value: $442,600, Signed For: $600,000
DaShawn Keirsey is slashing .301/.371/.427, with an OPS of .798 in 26 games for Elizabethton. the left-handed hitting center fielder has 13 RBIs, 20 runs scored, 20 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 103 at-bats. He is hitting .229 in 35 at.bats over the last ten games. Keirsey has yet to commit an error or record an outfield assist in 185.2 total innings.
DaShawn Keirsey is listed at number 40 on our midseason Twins prospects rankings.
Round 7, Pick 214: RHP Josh Winder
Elizabethton Rookie League, Age 21, 6′ 5″, 210 lbs
Slot Value: $198,700 Signed For: $198,700
Josh Winder makes the list with a 3.72 ERA in nine starts. In 38.2 innings, he has given up 37 hits, one home run, with 42 strikeouts and only six walks. He also has thrown two wild pitches and has a respectable WHIP? of 1.11. While not dominating the league, he has shown excellent control and is worth keeping an eye on.
Winder was the 233rd ranked pre-draft prospect by Baseball America.
Round 8, Pick 244: 1B Chris Williams
Elizabethton Rookie League, Age 21, 6′ 1″, 225 lbs
Slot Value: $162,100 Signed For: $10,000
Chris Williams is an interesting prospect. A catcher for Clemson in 2017, he injured his shoulder late in the season and required surgery. He returned this spring playing first base for the Tigers and hit 18 home runs in 63 games. Assigned to Elizabethton on a $10,000 bonus contract, Williams has played another 58 games at first base. That is a very heavy workload for a 21-year-old coming off a serious injury.
Williams has a rookie league slash line .255/.370 /.505 for a solid OPS of .874. He has 15 home runs and 51 RBI’s in 212 at-bats. He has shown good plate discipline with 51 strikeouts versus 38 walks. He has committed six errors in 483 total chances for a fielding percentage of .988.
Williams’ power numbers have dropped over the last few weeks. He has had only three extra-base hits, a double, triple, and home run in his last 18 games. Given the injury and his workload, that is understandable. On the flip side, despite the power slump, he continues to find ways to get on base. I look at that as a positive sign for his future. With a refreshed start in 2019, Williams could well prove to be an 8th round steal.
Williams was previously drafted in 31st round by Tampa Bay in 2017.
Round 11, Pick 334: 2B Michael Helman
Cedar Rapids A-Level, Age 22, 6′ 1″, 190 lbs
Signed For $220,000
Michael Helman made quick work of the rookie Appalachian League posting a line of .375/.435/.575. an OPS of 1.010, with two home runs, seven RBI’s, four strikeouts, three walks, six steals on seven attempts, in 40 at-bats.
Promoted to Class-A Cedar Rapids in early August, Helman continued his hot hitting. In 83 at-bats through 21 games, the slick second baseman sports a line of .361/.396/.506 and an OPS of .902. He has struck out 11 times against four walks, with three steals in seven attempts.
On defense, he has had problems during very short stints at shortstop and the outfield. He has committed three errors in nine total innings playing out of position. At second base, Helman has strong numbers. The right-hander has committed just two errors in 149 total chances for a .987 fielding percentage this season.
Round 13, Pick 394: C Trevor Casanova
Elizabethton Rookie League, Age 22, 6′ 0″, 200 lbs
Signed For $100,000
Trevor Casanova is a catching prospect worth watching. He is hitting .331/.389/.490 and an OPS of .879, with 14 doubles, three home runs, and 17 RBI’s in 145 at-bats. The left-handed batter has drawn 13 walks to go along with 38 K’s. On defense, Casanova has allowed three passed balls in 202.2 innings behind the plate, with two errors committed, and he has thrown out 16 of 32 attempted base stealers.
Previously drafted in 14th round by Seattle in 2017.
Round 17. Pick 514 : Erik Cha LHP
Elizabethton Rookie League, age 21, 6′ 2 “, 190 lbs2
Signed For $75,000 Erick Cha, drafted as a redshirt sophomore out of Cal-State Fullerton only pitched nine college innings this spring. The 21-year-old was first assigned to the GCLTwins before being bumped up to Elizabethton this past weekend.
He went 2-0 in the Gulf Coast League. In 22.2 innings the Los Angeles native gave up 21 hits, struck out 21 and walked only four, for an ERA of 1.59 and WHIP of 1.10.
In two appearances for the E-Twins over 3.2 innings, Cha has a 0.00 ERA, giving up two hits, striking out eight and walking three.
The four earned runs Cha gave up came on a pair of two-inning outings. In his 13 other outings this year, 22.1 innings, the opposition failed to score an earned run.
Cha is on a streak of nine consecutive scoreless innings. The thing that really stands out, albeit only a 26 inning sample, is his 4.78 ground-out/air-out ratio (GO/AO). It shouldn’t be surprising that he has given up just one home run on the season.
Erik Cha is officially on the radar.
Round 18, Pick 544: Andrew Cabezas RHP
Elizabethton Rookie League, Age 21, 5′ 10″, 175 lbs
Signed For $90,000
Andrew Cabezas has put up strong numbers for Elizabethton. In 11 games, nine starts, he has an ERA of 2.74, giving up 34 hits, striking 44, and walking 14 in 46 innings. He has also hit five batters and has surrendered four home runs. Cabezas’ WHIP is 0.96, and batters are hitting only .180 against him. He has allowed just two runs in his last 18.1 innings of work. At 5′ 10″, 175 lbs at age 21, Cabezas doesn’t project well, but the numbers are impressive.
Round 19, Pick 574: Austin Schulfer RHP
Elizabethton Rookie League, age 22, 6′ 2″, 175 lbs
Signed For $1,000
Austin Schulfer is on a roll. The 22-year-old Wisconsin native has not given up an earned run in his last six appearances, surrendering 16 hits over 23 innings.
On the season for Elizabethton, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior right-hander posts a 3-0 record, with a 1.27 ERA, 33 hits, one home run. 32 strikeouts and 15 walks over 39 innings of work. He has also hit five batters. Opposing batters are hitting .236 against him, with a WHIP of 1.23.
Schulfer allows quite a few runners but does a good job of stranding them on base. His 1.20 ground-out/air-out ratio (GO/AO) isn’t promising, nor his 6′ 2″, 175-pound frame. That said, he is getting impressive results.
Michael Davis could be a diamond in the rough. The right-handed batting shortstop collected six hits in 14 at-bats, including a home run and four RBI’s with the Rookie League E-Twins before being moved up to Class A Cedar Rapids. He has handled the promotion well, with a line of ..292 .325 .567, a nine doubles, eight home runs, 21 RBI’s, 22 runs scored, 39 K’s, and six walks in 120 at-bats.
On defense, Davis has committed eight errors in 153 total chances for a fielding percentage of .948.
At 6′, 200 lbs, and 22 years of age, Davis may not project well as a major league shortstop. But if he can hold the position and keep hitting with power, he could be an intriguing prospect.
Round 40, Pick 1,204: Tyler Webb OF
GCL Twins Rookie League, Age 22, 6′ 0″, 175 lbs
Signed For $1,000
The final player taken in the 2018 draft, Tyler Webb was baseball’s version the NFL’s “Mr Irrelevant”.
Assigned to rookie league Elizabethton, Tyler Webb had a troubling slash line of .268/.302/.268, in 41 at-bats. Demoted the GCLTwins, his stats increased with a slash of .294 .398 .363. A nice on-base-percentage, but the .363 slugging percentage is a problem. His plate discipline is good with 15 strikeouts versus 12 walks, His batting average over the last ten games is .156.
On defense, the right-hander has collected six outfield assists without committing an error.
Next. Minnesota Twins would be applauded for 2018 trade deadline. dark
The real snag for Webb’s outlook is that he is 2.3 years older than the average Gulf Coast League batter. As pick number 1,204, the odds were very long to begin with, but you have to pull for a Mr Irrelevant.
