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Minnesota Twins’ Alerick Soularie: Pick Grade and Scouting Report

By Otto Johnson

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 28: The Opening Day logo painted on the field prior to the game between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians on March 28, 2019 at the Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Indians 2-0. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 28: The Opening Day logo painted on the field prior to the game between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians on March 28, 2019 at the Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Indians 2-0. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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With the 59th Pick in the MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins grabbed Alerick
Soularie, an outfielder from Tennessee.

In the second and final day of the MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins opened the day by selecting Alerick Soularie, an outfielder from Tennessee. Soularie has some upside, but this was a very surprising pick by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine.

Alerick Soularie (also known as Al) was the 105th prospect according to MLB.com and 193rd according to Fan Graphs, so he wasn’t exactly an expected player here. The going thought process is that the Twins wanted Soularie and didn’t think he’d last to their next pick in the fourth round.

Soularie can hit, that’s for sure. In 76 games at Tennessee, Soularie’s .336 BA/.448 OBP/.586 SLG% numbers were excellent, and his 16 homers and 63 RBI would have put on pace for 34 homers and 134 RBI which are pretty great numbers.

Check out his highlight reel:

The big issue with Soularie though is similar to Aaron Sabato, the Twins first round pick: Where is he gonna play? For Sabato the answer is a little more clear, but for Soularie it’s completely up in the air.

Soularie isn’t fast enough to play center field, and his relatively weak arm keeps him out of right field. He has stellar baseball instincts, helping make up for his below-average arm and just okay speed.

There may be an answer: second base. He practiced there a lot in college this year and his hands were pretty solid. If the Twins can figure out what to do with him, he does have a long track record of success.

He was a 29th round pick in 2018 (he was that low due to signability), so he’s always been considered a good player, but there are lots of questions. The big hope is that he keeps developing. He’s still really skinny, so if he beefs up he has some more power potential to match his excellent hitting skills.

This pick was a surprising one to be sure, as I would have expected them to go with a college pitcher here (specifically hoping for Clayton Beeter). This isn’t a terrible pick, but honestly I thought they could do more.

Minnesota Twins Grade: C+.

Minnesota Twins’ Aaron Sabato: Pick Grade and Scouting Report. dark. Next

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