As many of you may recall, Twinkie Town members voted for the Top 25 prospects in the Minnesota Twins farm system. I'll give you a rundown reminder of who they were, and then we'll talk about who has moved up in the system, and what we can expect from some of the others. Stay tuned for another recap of the minor league players on Wednesday!
2013 Twinkie Town Top 25 Prospects
1. Miguel Sano
2. Oswaldo Arcia
3. Byron Buxton
4. Alex Meyer
5. Aaron Hicks
6. Eddie Rosario
7. Kyle Gibson
8. Max Kepler
9. Jose Berrios
10. Trevor May
11. Joe Benson
12. J.T. Chargois
13. Jorge Polanco
14. Travis Harrison
15. Daniel Santana
16. Mason Melotakis
17. Luke Bard
18. Hudson Boyd
19. Michael Tonkin
20. Niko Goodrum
21. Chris Herrmann
22. Alex Wimmers
23. D.J. Baxendale
24. Levi Michael
25. Adam Walker
Alright, so we'll start with the obvious: #5 ranked Aaron Hicks managed to play himself into a starting CF position with the club this spring, and so far this (very short) season, has posted a .059/.158/.059 triple slash. Clearly he has a lot to work on, needing to adjust to the major leagues and the pitching that comes with it.
Another notable minor league player this week (so far) has been Niko Goodrum, playing with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Goodrum hit a walk-off single to get the Kernels the win over the Beloit Snappers on April 5th, Minnesota's former minor league affiliate.
Other notable moments from the fresh minor league season:
-Byron Buxton hit his first Midwestern League home run in the same game against Beloit, giving the Kernels a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
-Hudson Boyd started in the April 5th game against Beloit, going a solid(ish) 4.2 innings, giving up just one run a two hits, while walking three and striking out 3.
-During the April 4th game against the Beloit Snappers, Jorge Polanco hit a homer in the first inning, giving the team a burst in offense that they'd never relinquish.
-During the April 5th New Britain Rock Cats game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Trevor May's fairly solid start went 5 innings, giving up just 3 hits and 1 earned run. He struck out 4 batters, but did walk 3, yet still earned the loss for the night.
-In the April 5th Rochester Red Wings game against the Buffalo Bisons (just me, or terrible name?), Oswaldo Arcia went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a nice defensive play in RF.
-In the same game, catcher Chris Herrmann went 1-for-2 and managed to draw a walk as a pinch hitter for Drew Butera.
-Pitcher Kyle Gibson went 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. This is good news, Twins fans.
Stay tuned next week for more information about how the Twins minor league players are doing, and feel free to vote in the comments who you think had the best start to their season!