Minnesota Twins sign undrafted free agent Zarion Sharpe

The Minnesota Twins picked up a fourth undrafted free agent in Zarion Sharpe a left-handed pitcher from UNC-Wilmington.

If you were waiting for the Minnesota Twins to sign a legitimate draft prospect with some name value, you were finally granted your wish when the Twins signed lefty Zarion Sharpe a pitcher from UNC-Wilmington, the same school that produced Twins prospect Ryan Jeffers.

Sharpe is a big guy with a big arm, standing 6’5″ and weighing 207 pounds. He’s still lanky for his height so there’s a lot more projection for him to build on, but he’s currently got a 93 MPH heater and three other decent off-speed pitches for him to improve.

Sharpe was a top 300 draft prospect because of the upside, and he’s been tracked by MLB teams since he left high school, including being drafted in the 19th Round of the 2019 Draft by the Cardinals.

In addition, he’s still got some starter potential too. He was excellent at the Cape, which is an important test for draft prospects. Of his 38 collegiate appearances, 33 were starts. In total here was his stat line for his college career:

• 38 G, 33 GS, 157 IP,12-7 W-L, 4.07 ERA, 147-60 K-BB, .234 BAA (batting average against)

The main thing to see here is that strikeout to walk ratio. Those are absolutely special numbers, but the start of the shortened 2020 season started even better. He pitched two seven-inning gems to match this stat line:

• 4 G, 4 GS, 20.2 IP, 2-1 W-L, 2.18 ERA, 20-8 K-BB, .221 BAA

That’s an awesome four game stretch, and I’m sure that helped sell the Twins on him. He fills a huge need in the system (left-handed starter), lots of projection (huge frame), good command, and strong analytics.

I’m assuming the only reason he wasn’t drafted was because of his slower fastball, but for what amounts to a sixth-round pick, the Twins got a very solid pitcher with a high floor and a potentially high ceiling (if he can bulk up). It’s a good deal.

Overly-Optimistic MLB Comparison: Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs

Yep. Again, this part is designed to be unrealistic and hopeful, so we’ll go here. Both are big lefties (6’5″ vs. 6’4″), neither throw all that fast, they both rely on control, solid strikeout numbers with very little walks. I think if he develops right, he has a outside shot at being a very similar player to Lester.