It appears that Jairo Perez finally got the respect of the readers of Twinkie Town, winning the first of four spots in the finals of the 50th round.
Today we will be voting on ten young men who spent this past summer with the GCL Twins and Elizabethton Twins. Phillip Chapman, a catcher who was a lower round 2011 pick, was the GCL Twins top hitter at .308/.834 OPS in 104 at bats. Matt Parker was the top catcher for the Elizabethton Twins where he hit .277/.725 in 112 at bats. He also appeared in six games during a brief promotion to Beloit. Rory Rhodes is known for hitting very long batting practice home runs. In 157 at bats at Elizabethton, he hit .261/.751 with two home runs. He also struck out 72 times. Kennys Vargas is another big first baseman who was one of Elizabethton's top hitters at .322/.865 in 174 at bats. His season ended early when he began serving a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance. A. J. Pettersen is a solid middle infielder who does all the little things the right way. Pettersen's season was cut in half when he was hit in the face with a pitch that broke his nose in ten places. Pettersen hit .286/.388 OBP in 56 at bats. He struck out only nine times while taking seven walks.
Josh Hendricks is a first baseman from Australia who hit .275/.666 in 160 at bats for the GCL Twins. Jacob Younis is a young Aussie shortstop who turned eighteen during the season. He hit .219/.300 OBP in 105 at bats with seven stolen bases. Candido Pimentel was the center fielder for the GCL Twins. Pimentel hit .250/.350 OBP in 136 at bats. Nick Lockwood played primarily second base at Elizabethton, hitting .260/.314 OBP in 206 at bats. He drew 10 walks while striking out 42 times. After beginning his rookie professional season in the DSL, the Twins made an unusual move by moving Javier Pimentel up to the GCL Twins during the season even though he was only seventeen years old. He hit only .167/.227 OBP in 102 at bats, however, he may be another young Latin shortstop with a bright future.
This round will remain open through noon on Wednesday when we will vote on ten pitchers from the four full season teams.