Twinkie Town Community Prospect Vote: Round 16

Congratulations to LaMonte Wade for winning a very close round 15.

Twins Top 30 prospects for 2018

1. Royce Lewis - 57% (Gonsalves 25%, Gordon 18%)
2. Stephen Gonsalves - 55% (Gordon 30%, Javier 10%, Romero 5%)
3. Nick Gordon - 65% (Romero 19%, Javier 9%, Kirilloff 7%)
4. Zack Littell - 57% (Romero 27%, Javier 13%, Kirilloff 4%)
5. Fernando Romero 46% (Rooker 24%, Javier 21%, Kirilloff 9%)
6. Wander Javier 44% (Rooker 31%, Kirilloff 13%, Enlow 7%, Graterol 5%)
7. Brent Rooker 55% (Kirilloff 26%, Baddoo 7%, Graterol 7%, Enlow 5%)
8. Alex Kirilloff 47% (Thorpe 23%, Graterol 13%, Baddoo 10%, Enlow 7%)
9. Lewis Thorpe 30% (Graterol 22%, Baddoo 21%, Jay 16%, Enlow 12%)
10. Brudsar Graterol 29% (Baddoo 19%, Enlow 19%, Garver 17%, Jay 14%)
11. Akil Baddoo 32% (Enlow 27%, Jay 19%, Garver 15%, Jorge 7%)
12. Blayne Enlow 48% (Jay 22%, Garver 21%, Jorge 8%)
13. Tyler Jay 41% (Garver 38%, Wade 11%, Jorge 10%)
14. Mitch Garver 48% (Wade 18%, Moya 14%, Curtiss 13%, Jorge 6%)
15. LaMonte Wade 25% (Moya 23%, Curtiss 16%, Palacios 15%, Diaz 13%, Jorge 9%)

I will add another position player for this round. There are many options in the 15-25 range in this deep minor league system.

Felix Jorge, SP

2018 Age: 24

2017 High Level: Minnesota Twins (MLB)

Felix Jorge was originally signed for $400,000 in 2011 as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic. He started that year in the Dominican Summer League as a 17 year old. He gradually worked his way up the ladder but started to get more notice as a prospect when he performed well (7.2 K/9 2.0 BB/9, 3.30 RA) as a 21 year old in Cedar Rapids. He continued to earn promotions working as a starting pitcher and was added to the 40 man roster in November 2016. In 2017 the Twins promoted him from AA Chattanooga directly to the majors to make a spot start in a doubleheader. His debut against the Royals was okay and he stayed on the roster for another start against the Orioles which was terrible. He was sent back to AA Chattanooga and earned an August promotion to AAA. His 5.02 RA at Rochester didn’t convince the Twins to bring him up in September. Listed at 6’2” and 175 pounds he is described as having a “slight” build. He uses a 90-91 MPH fastball, changeup and slider with good control to generate ground ball outs and doesn’t give away many walks. Jorge’s role in 2018 will be as starting pitching depth in AAA. Unless he adds fastball velocity he seems destined to become a back of the rotation starter or possibly a swingman middle reliever.

John Curtiss, RP

2018 Age: 25

2017 High Level: Minnesota Twins (MLB)

John Curtiss played his college ball at Texas and was drafted by the Twins in the 6th round of the 2014 draft. He had multiple injuries in college but pitched well enough in his junior year to impress the Twins. His 2014 debut at Elizabethton went well but he struggled in 2015 at Cedar Rapids. He pitched well at Fort Myers in 2016 (11.5 K/9) and stayed on a roll throughout 2017 dominating AA (12.6 K/9 1.08 RA) and AAA (12.2 K/9 1.85 RA) and ended the season in the major league bullpen. Curtiss caught too much of the plate the big leagues as his H/9 doubled but his strikeout rate was 10.4 per 9 innings and walk rate at 2.1 per 9. Curtiss gets strikeouts with a mid to upper 90s fastball and an effective slider that he can throw at several speeds. If he can spot those pitches he should be able to contribute in the Twins bullpen for several seasons.

Gabriel Moya, RP

2018 Age: 23

2017 High Level: Minnesota Twins (MLB)

Gabriel Moya was signed by the Diamondbacks in 2012 from Venezuela. Despite good peripherals he gave up a lot of hits and the Diamondbacks had him repeat rookie ball. A second chance seemed to help as his 2015 Pioneer League season was his best to that point. He pitched very well in 2016 with a 11.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a midseason promotion to high A Visalia. In 2017 he was dominant at AA with a line for the year of 13.4 K/9 2.3 BB/9 and 0.93 RA. The Twins were somehow able to acquire him for unwanted catcher John Ryan Murphy at the trade deadline. Moya made his Twins debut in September and made an immediate impression as the twitchiest reliever the Twins have had since Joe Nathan. Every pitch he throws is a borderline balk as he Humpty Dances his way through his motion. The motion helps the effectiveness of his changeup and breaking ball and those offspeed pitches make his low 90s fastball look better. It doesn’t look pretty but Moya was able to pitch a decent 6-1/3 innings for the Twins in September. He is likely to start the season in AAA Rochester but expect to see him battling to return the big leagues in 2018.

Lewin Diaz, 1B

2018 Age: 21

2017 High Level: Cedar Rapids (A)

Dominican Lewin Diaz received a sizable $1.4M bonus to sign with the Twins in 2013. He had good scouting reports for his power bat but had little to show for it until his 2016 season when he repeated Elizabethton and hit .310/.353/.575. In 2017 at Cedar Rapids he hit .292/.329/.444 with 33 doubles and 12 HR. He has walked about half as often as he strikes out in the minors and his 2017 was no different (25BB 80K). He is a lefthanded thrower and slow runner so defensively he is limited to 1B. At 6’3” 240 he is a larger than average human being which is an asset at 1B. He should begin 2018 at Fort Myers and will need to continue to improve his hitting to turn his power potential into reality. He will need to produce at the plate at his highest projection to be a big league contributor.

Jermaine Palacios, SS

2018 Age: 21

2017 High Level: Fort Myers (A+)

Jermaine Palacios was signed as an international free agent in 2013 from Venezuela. He hit from the get-go, posting an 800 OPS with the Dominican rookie team in 2014. In 2015 he beat up the GCL batting .370/.398/.540, earning a mid-season promotion to Elizabethton where he impressed with a .336/.345/.507 line as an 18 year old. He was promoted to Cedar Rapids in 2016 and struggled for the first month of the season at that level. Just as he seemed to be adjusting he suffered a season ending injury after being hit by a pitch in June. The Twins had Palacios repeat Cedar Rapids in 2016 and he hit .320/.362/.544, earning a mid-season promotion to Fort Myers. At Fort Myers Palacios hit just .269/.303/.359 and his strikeout rate had an uptick. He is not a particularly patient batter at the plate with more strikeouts (206) than walks (87) throughout his minor league career. His glove has been adequate for SS but with the SS depth of the Twins in the minors it is unlikely he plays there in the majors. His arm and range profile well at 3B if he cannot stick at SS but he is being given the opportunity to play SS until he proves he can’t. If he can improve his selectivity at the plate he has the potential to be a plus hitter with plenty of power for a left-side infielder.

Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/3B

2018 Age: 21

2017 High Level: Cedar Rapids (A)

Travis Blankenhorn was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round of the 2015 draft. Scouts liked his approach at the plate and his lefthanded bat. He grades out as an above average athlete but doesn’t have a “natural” position. He did well enough in his first two seasons at the plate to earn midseason promotions, first to Elizabethton and then to Cedar Rapids. The Twins can’t seem to decide which infield position suits him best as he has split time at second and third base every season. He started last season red hot at the plate but hit an extended slump that dropped his overall numbers. Still he was able to improve his production year-on-year at Cedar Rapids hitting .251/.343/.441 with 13 HR. His athletic talent should allow him to play infield and his positional flexibility could be an asset as an utility player similar to Eduardo Nunez. Blankenhorn has been slightly young for the levels he has played and has produced fairly well at the plate for an infielder. Expect to see Blankenhorn playing in Fort Myers this summer but not for the Twins before 2020.