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Welcome all and sundry to our inaugural look at our Top 30 Twins prospects for 2015. If you've hung around here before, you know the drill: I'll list off the 30 prospects, their position and their current team, and we'll run through the necessaries to give you an idea of how their year has progressed thus far.
It's early, but let's get a start.
| 1 | Byron Buxton | CF | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Reports seem to be positive about Buxton's presence in the field and he's had some nice games, but so far his triple slash has been off to a slow start as he's batting just .196/.260/.326 in 50 plate appearances. He has a double, triple, and a homer plus two stolen bases in three attempts. So far he's struck out 14 times and walked four. It's going to be a while before he's fully back up to speed. | |||
| 2 | Miguel Sano | 3B | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Similarly, Sano has also been off to a slow start. He's hitting .189/.348/.378 with two homers and a double in 46 plate appearances. Like Buxton it'll be a while before he's on track to threaten for a job in the Majors, but it's also early - so two or three good games in a row will heal that triple slash pretty quickly. | |||
| 3 | Jose Berrios | RHP | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Here's good news: Berrios is off to a scorching start. In two outings he's racked up 20 strikeouts in 11 innings, with a pair of home runs leading to four runs allowed and a 3.27 ERA. Two or three more starts like this and it would be a surprise if the Twins didn't try him at Triple-A. | |||
| 4 | Alex Meyer | RHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| After a pair of starts to kick the year off where Meyer really struggled with his command, he turned in a brilliant performance yesterday afternoon. Meyer struck out 11 and walked three while not allowing a run over six innings. He's now struck out 20 and walked 14 in 14.2 innings. It's been a rough beginning, but there's little doubt in my mind that he'd be better served struggling or succeeding with the Twins than in Triple-A. | |||
| 5 | Kohl Stewart | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Stewart also pitched yesterday, but his outings have been the inverse of Meyer's: two strong starts followed by one that got away yesterday. He's recorded strikeout totals of five, three, and two in logs of six, eight, and six-and-a-third innings; it's early but people will want to see strikeout numbers from Stewart this year if he's going to hang onto his status as an elite prospect. He owns a 3.10 ERA in 20.1 frames. | |||
| 6 | Trevor May | RHP | Minnesota (MLB) |
| Called up before he was able to make his 2015 debut in Triple-A, all May has done is make two pretty good starts for the Twins. He's issued just one walk and struck out eight in 11.1 innings, and most importantly he's been able to command all of his pitches. When Ricky Nolasco returns, there's no way that May should lose his spot in the rotation. | |||
| 7 | Nick Gordon | SS | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| It's been a nice start to the season for Gordon, who is hitting .306/.333/.388 through 12 games. He's logged a pair of triples and is 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts. The Twins will be looking for a consistent offensive performance from Gordon this year, meaning perhaps a few more line drives instead of an overwhelming ground ball ratio. Still, he's very young for the Midwest League and we'll need to take that into account as well. | |||
| 8 | Nick Burdi | RHP | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Burdi's first appearance of the year was an absolutely nightmare. He walked four and gave up four runs in just two-thirds of an innings. That performance will haunt his overall numbers for weeks. He's been better in his two most recent appearances. Overall he owns a 9.64 ERA in 4.2 innings, including seven strikeouts and eight walks. | |||
| 9 | Jorge Polanco | SS/2B | Chattanooga (AA) |
| He's just 3-for-17 in his last five games, but thanks to a scorching first week Polanco is hitting .293/.326/.488 in 41 at-bats. His accolades thus far include a pair of home runs and three stolen bases in four attempts. Polanco has recorded six strikeouts and two walks. The 21-year old is off to a good start, but the organization will want to watch him for a while before they push him to Triple-A. | |||
| 10 | Eddie Rosario | OF/2B | Rochester (AAA) |
| Rosario is being challenged out of the gate at Triple-A this year, which is good to see. He's hitting .240/.269/.360 in his first 50 plate appearances, including a double, triple, and homer plus one stolen base in one attempt. Manager Mike Quade has been shifting him between center and right field; he has yet to record an inning at second base. | |||
| 11 | Lewis Thorpe | LHP | n/a |
| Thorpe will be having Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2015. | |||
| 12 | Max Kepler | OF/1B | Chattanooga (AA) |
| After just six games in Fort Myers, Kepler was promoted on Monday to Double-A. This will be his first taste of professional baseball at this level, and for a guy with a .263/.332/.389 line in 108 games at High-A ball it will be interesting to see how well he can adapt. The tools are still there and he still has a lot of fans within the hierarchy of the organization. Hopefully he can prove that their faith was put in the right player. | |||
| 13 | Stephen Gonsalves | LHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| Cedar Rapids is where Gonsalves finished in 2014, and he's picked up right where he left off. He logged ten strikeouts in his most recent start, over seven innings, and in his first start of the year he struck out nine in six. The southpaw our of San Diego is now 20, so a fantastic performance early in the season could see him push to take a job in Fort Myers. So far: a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings, including 19 strikeouts, one walk, and ten hits. | |||
| 14 | Jake Reed | RHP | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Reed has struggled with command a bit in the early going, particularly in his last three appearances. But in five outings he's pitched just 3.2 innings, so we'll see how he gets on in the next couple of weeks. Right now he has a 9.82 ERA with five strikeouts, a walk, and a pair of hit batters in 3.2 innings. | |||
| 15 | Adam Brett Walker | RF | Chattanooga (AA) |
| If you want to talk about a player with loads of talent who hasn't been able to fully harness it, Walker might be your guy. He smashed four bombs in his first eight games, including a two-homer game on the 15th. But he's also struck out 18 times and walked once in 41 plate appearances. After yesterday's 0-for-4 (two strikeouts) performance, he's hitting .268/.279/.585. | |||
| 16 | Amaurys Minier | LF/1B | Extended Spring Training |
| Minier is currently in extended spring training. | |||
| 17 | Stuart Turner | C | Chattanooga (AA) |
| While he's not on the 40-man roster, a good year from Turner could change things significantly at the catcher position for the Twins in 2016. He's off to a good start, hitting .286, but he's walked just once and has yet to record an extra-base hit. I'd love to see him put together a full, decent season from an offensive standpoint, because while he's shown flashes of a hit tool we have yet to see it play out in his season-long batting line. | |||
| 18 | Chih-Wei Hu | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Hu is in a rotation with Kohl Stewart again, and he may still be the more impressive pitcher. In two starts he's struck out 16 and walked one. The best part is that he's allowed just five hits in 12 innings. Stewart is the sexy prospect with better stuff and obviously the pedigree of being a first-round pick, but it's hard not to love what Hu's doing. If you're noticing a trend, that there are a ton of pitchers doing really well in the minor leagues, you get a medal. It's in the mail. (It's not.) | |||
| 19 | Mitch Garver | C | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Garver's start to 2015 has been rocky as he's struggled to find the success he had in Cedar Rapids last summer. Through 13 games he's hitting .130/.231/.196 with three doubles, ten strikeouts, and six walks. | |||
| 20 | Tyler Duffey | RHP | Chattanooga (AA) |
| In spite of striking out just two in seven innings yesterday, Duffey has had a very strong start to the year. The four runs he allowed yesterday were also the first runs he'd given up this year. In three starts he's struck out 20 in 20.2 innings. It's hard to see him staying in Double-A for much longer. Tell you what though, we talk about the Lookouts' bullpen but the rotation features Duffey, Berrios, D.J. Baxendale, and 2010 first round selection Alex Wimmers. | |||
| 21 | Travis Harrison | LF | Chattanooga (AA) |
| The tenth player on our list in Double-A (so far), Harrison is off to a great start to the year. He's already tallied a home run and four doubles, helping him to a .289/.400/.474 triple slash through 11 games. With a decent hit tool and a good eye at the plate, Harrison's prospect status would rebound significantly if he were to put forward a good season. He's in an outfield with Buxton, Kepler, and Walker however - three players above him on this list. The competition is thick. | |||
| 22 | Taylor Rogers | LHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| In spite of a lackluster report on yesterday's start over at Baseball Prospectus, Rogers still managed to blank Syracuse over six frames. He struck out six and walked one; it was his second great start of the season. In three starts overall he owns a 2.37 ERA with 19 strikeouts in as many innings, plus six walks. | |||
| 23 | Zack Jones | RHP | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Wow. Jones has started 2015 with authority, striking out ten in just four innings without issuing a single walk. He's given up four hits and is responsible for just one run; it wasn't a homer so I can only imagine it involved a stolen base or advancement on what some folks might call a productive out. After missing most of 2014 and seeing some of the command issues creep up in the Arizona Fall League, it's great to see Jones coming out of the gate so strongly. | |||
| 24 | Lewin Diaz | 1B | Extended Spring Training |
| Diaz is currently in extended spring training. | |||
| 25 | Michael Cederoth | RHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| The Twins are still asking him to start and the results have been mediocre. Cederoth has recorded nine strikeouts and issued five walks in ten innings, and after allowing four runs on on Saturday his ERA sits at 4.50 after two outings. | |||
| 26 | J.R. Graham | RHP | Minnesota (MLB) |
| At times looking good and at times really struggling, Paul Molitor hasn't been afraid to call on Graham early this year. He's made five appearances for 4.2 innings, and he's struck out and walked four. There have been too many base runners but it's a very small sample, and the Twins will be patient to see if Graham can develop into an impact reliever with some experience. | |||
| 27 | J.T. Chargois | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| He's made four appearances this spring and he imploded in one of them. Just like Burdi or Reed, it's going to affect his stat line over the next few weeks. The good news is that he's looked good in his three other outings, so in spite of the unsightly ERA the four strikeouts and one walk in 3.1 innings are good things. After missing all of 2013 and 2014, the Twins are looking forward to seeing what Chargois can give them. | |||
| 28 | Huascar Ynoa | RHP | n/a |
| Ynoa is not currently in-season and he is not attending extended spring training. | |||
| 29 | Levi Michael | 2B | Chattanooga (AA) |
| Michael's strong 2014 put him back on the books, but he's off to a slow start in 2015. He's posted five walks in eight games so the on-base percentage is strong (.379), but so far he's just 4-for-21 (.190) with one double. | |||
| 30 | Tanner English | CF | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| English surprised everyone with a fantastic year at the plate in 2014, but he's starting 2015 in the same fashion. He's hitting .308/.349/.359 with two doubles and three walks versus ten strikeouts in 44 plate appearances. With the fantastic ratings on English's defensive skill set, any kind of a hit tool is going to help him rocket up this chart for next year. It's early, but the returns have been promising so far this year. | |||