Twinkie Town Prospect Vote: Round 19

Congratulations to John Curtiss for winning round 18.

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%)
16. Gabriel Moya 32% (Palacios 19%, Curtiss 17%, Diaz 14%, Jorge 9%, Blankenhorn 9%)
17. Zack Granite 24% (Curtiss 21%, Palacios 20%, Diaz 18%, Jorge 11%, Blankenhorn 6%)
18. John Curtiss 31% (Severino 29%, Diaz 19%, Jorge 14%, Blankenhorn 7%)

We have lost a couple pitchers but I am going to hold off on adding another for a round or two. Instead we get a catcher to consider this round.

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.

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.

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.

Yunior Severino, 2B

2018 Age: 18

2017 High Level: Gulf Coast Braves (Rookie)

Yunior Severino was part of the Braves high profile class of international free agent signings headed by Kevin Maitan in 2016. Unfortunately for the Braves those signings became even more high profile when MLB voided the signings and made most of the players free agents again this winter. Severino originally signed a $1.9M contract with the Braves and he gets to keep all of that money. The Twins were able to sign him for $2.5M this winter so the young man has done quite well already. Severino is a switch hitting second baseman from the Dominican Republic. He was promoted after 10 games from the Braves’ Dominican Rookie team to the GCL team and hit .286/.345/.444 in his debut. Scouts believe he has power and he has already shown some of that driving 22 of his 54 hits for extra bases. He is considered a bat-first infielder who is learning how to play 2B and some scouts think he may need to move to 3B if he grows significantly. Expect to see Severino stay in extended spring training working on fundamentals until Elizabethton starts their season. Hopefully he becomes the next in a long line of Twins prospects to hit well in Betsy.

Ben Rortvedt, C

2018 Age: 20

2017 High Level: Cedar Rapids (A)

Ben Rortvedt was drafted out of high school in Wisconsin by the Twins in the 2016 draft in the second round. Scouts loved his glove behind the plate and were encouraged by his hitting. He started off with the GCL Twins and was pushed up to Elizabethton after just 20 games. He didn’t hit very well (OPS below 600) but impressed the talent evaluators enough to start last season with Cedar Rapids. He was quite young for Cedar Rapids and it showed in his struggles at the plate. He hit just .224/.284/.315 for the Kernels. He did make significant progress with his offense after starting the season with a brutal April and May that left him hitting just .140 at the beginning of June. The Twins were impressed with his defense and encouraged enough by his ability to adjust at the plate that they still considered the aggressive promotion a success. It will be interesting to see if Rortvedt repeats Cedar Rapids this season to work on his offense or continues on the fast track at Fort Myers.