Game Changers - Unreal Power on Display

[TNLooky2015]

Unreal Power on Display

 

Track record is that of a winner and run producers.  If they don't work out - Send them to AAA.

 

Miguel Sano and Adam Brett Walker both have their hitting weaknesses, but both also have EXTREME POWER as manager Doug Mientkiewicz expresses it.  Both prospects despite their weaknesses seem to play for teams that win despite those weaknesses.  Kepler has just figured "it" out.  He is looking more like Mauer in his hay day than anybody I know.  Mr. consistency.  [doubles - triples - singles - to RF - LF - CF] - Gets it done!

 

In the month of June

 

Sano

20    Games

.310  AVG

.412   OBP

.620   SLG

1.031  OPS

7 doubles / 5 home runs / 14 rbi

Everything the Twins need during their offensive drought.  Defense has been stellar as well.

 

Kepler

24   Games

.373   AVG

.485   OBP

.590   SLG

1.076  OPS

5 doubles / 5 triples / 1 home run / 17 rbi

He hasn't shown game changing 1 swing power

but he has shown Joe Mauer power (old Joe)

 

Walker

24    Games

.319   AVG

.376    OBP

.747    SLG

1.123   OPS

7 doubles / 1 triple / 10 home runs / 27 rbi

The fact that he has more home runs and rbi than 

the entire Twins outfield put together is a shame.

22 home runs and 66 rbi is impressive.

 

Which one of these prospects has the greatest opportunity to be a Game Changer tomorrow?  1 or all?  What is there to really lose?  DH / 1B / OF 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Your post couldn't be more timely. It looks like the Twins intend to play Rosario full time in CF for the foreseeable future. Either Kepler or Walker could get called to play left any day now.

[GMinTraining]

 

Your post couldn't be more timely. It looks like the Twins intend to play Rosario full time in CF for the foreseeable future. Either Kepler or Walker could get called to play left any day now.

 

What does gut tell you?

[jimbo92107]

This is the year to experiment with promising prospects. They may flail, they may fail, but it surely will be fun to watch. And every now and then we'll get to see a monster shot into the second deck, something Twins fans hardly ever see.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Kepler is on the 40 man, so I'm guessing he's probably the next guy up if they call someone up.  Sano is on the 40 man as well, but he's not an OF.

[ExpectMorePayLess]

Walker, Sano, Kepler lead Lookouts charge
Twins trio combines for eight hits, all nine RBIs in Chattanooga's win

 

Great article and video of our future

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150629&content_id=133536112&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_l111&sid=l111

[drjim]

Hate to bring up the same stuff with Walker but man is that guy a k machine. Looking back at his game log, since May 15 he has struck out in every game but 4. In the last 10 he has about at 40% k rate.

 

Amazing production, but really hard to see how that is sustainable as he moves up with that k rate. Give him the time he needs.

 

I would still let Kepler consolidate this year.

 

Sano I would bring up yesterday, but no later than following the KC series.

[lightfoot789]

 

Hate to bring up the same stuff with Walker but man is that guy a k machine. Looking back at his game log, since May 15 he has struck out in every game but 4. In the last 10 he has about at 40% k rate.

 

Amazing production, but really hard to see how that is sustainable as he moves up with that k rate. Give him the time he needs.

 

No disrespect, but that is exactly what was said after Rookie Ball.

No disrespect, but that is exactly what was said after Low A Ball

No disrespect, but that is exactly what was said after High A Ball

No disrespect, but that is exactly what is being said during AA Ball

 

#1 in the country - is number #1 in the country - Not second best.

You might be eventually right about his ultimate downfall, but to date he has ALWAYS been the best at what he does.  Lucky for the Twins organization he is better at more things than he is bad at.

 

22 HRs / 66 RBI / 170 Total Bases / 42 XBH - 107 SO

If his production dropped off 1/3 at the MLB level - he would still have:

15 HRs / 44 RBI / 113 Total Bases / 28 XBH - 142 SO

Who on the Twins has even those numbers of production?  Just saying...........

Promise not to make this a ABW thread.  My last comment

[drjim]

I think Walker can carve out a role in the bigs, but I think he is a full year at each level until he gets there. My pushback is not that Walker has no chance, it's that he shouldn't be promoted as aggressively as is being suggested here.

 

Same with Kepler.

 

Sano on the other hand... 

[dbminn]

Sano is the most ready to get the call. I suspect he'll be with the Twins for the July 6th series against the Orioles. They may wait until after the All-Star Break so he doesn't sit around for four days.

 

Walker needs to work on his %k rate.

 

Kepler would be fun to see while Buxton and Hicks are on the shelf. He should at least move to AAA very soon. It's hard to argue with Kepler's performance this year. He's been consistent and dominant. He almost needs to be called up to find out what he needs to work on at the plate.  

[gunnarthor]

I think Sano is ready now, at least with the bat.  Since May 1st, he's hitting something like .314/.395/.606.  I don't like cutting seasons in part but considering he had to have some rust from missing a full year, I think we can excuse his first month (and he still had some ok peripherals in there).  Also, has anyone seen his splits against lefties?  He has nearly a .900 slg% against them!

 

I think Kepler is more ready than Walker but I think Walker has a much higher ceiling if he can reach it.  That if is pretty big though.  But, man, IF he could be a .275/.315/.600 bat at the ML level ...

[twinssouth]

Walker, Sano, Kepler lead Lookouts charge

Twins trio combines for eight hits, all nine RBIs in Chattanooga's win

 

Great article and video of our future

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150629&content_id=133536112&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_l111&sid=l111

 

Thanks for posting this. I've been to River Walk Stadium in Montgomery (a phenomenal minor league stadium). The production of Walker and Sano would really be something if the outfield wall at Lookouts stadium was just normal height like Montgomery's and most other stadiums. Instead, it is literally twice as high all the way around, plastered with billboards.

[twinssouth]

I think Walker can carve out a role in the bigs, but I think he is a full year at each level until he gets there. My pushback is not that Walker has no chance, it's that he shouldn't be promoted as aggressively as is being suggested here.

 

Same with Kepler.

 

Sano on the other hand...

 

 

Totally agree on Walker, 1 year at a time at each level. He needs to face a bunch of AAA and AAAA junk ball, off speed pitchers first. Once he gets a steady diet of that, hopefully cuts down on his strike outs, then he should be ready. I also think that possibly one of the reasons for his high so% is his willingness to go deep into the count, waiting for that right pitch that he can clobber and taking a called strike 3 on the couple of games I saw, rather than all swinging strikes.

 

You may be right on Kepler, keeping him at Chattanooga for the year, see if he can sustain this level of success. Then next year, start him off at AAA and be one of the first call ups. The games I saw him play, he was the most athletic player (excluding Buxton) on the team and man that sweet swing is something, so smooth.

 

Based on my eye test, all Sano needs is a little more repetitions at 3rd and I'd send him up. He makes tough plays at 3rd but the routine one's are still little inconsistent

[jokin]

 

Thanks for posting this. I've been to River Walk Stadium in Montgomery (a phenomenal minor league stadium). The production of Walker and Sano would really be something if the outfield wall at Lookouts stadium was just normal height like Montgomery's and most other stadiums. Instead, it is literally twice as high all the way around, plastered with billboards.

 

 

Righto, twinssouth.  One look at the River Walk OF fence, and it was obvious that if that was the Lookouts home field they'd probably already have 50 home runs between them.  We've both said it before, but it bears repeating- AT&T Park/Chattanooga is a tough place to hit one out- the wall looks to be close to 20' high over most of the OF- with standard major league-type dimensions.  In just the one game I saw, there were 4 balls hit high off  the wall by Sano, Polanco and Walker, and another half dozen, cumulatively, knocked down by the wind.

[TRex]

 

You may be right on Kepler...<snip> The games I saw him play, he was the most athletic player (excluding Buxton) on the team and man that sweet swing is something, so smooth.

While it's no "Byron Buxton full-out on the warning track" Kepler did have this excellent athletic catch to end the contest last night with the game on the line:

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=208098083&sid=milb

 

PS not bad for a 1st baseman!

[jokin]

 

Kepler is on the 40 man, so I'm guessing he's probably the next guy up if they call someone up.  Sano is on the 40 man as well, but he's not an OF.

 

They've always brought Kepler along slowly, and for good reasons- he's been a slow mover up the Twins system, with a history of annual injuries that have retarded his development. Unless there's another OF injury, I don't think the Twins are going to push him all the way up, but a move to  AAA sure seems right around the corner.

 

FWIW,  I doubt that Torii Hunter makes that 9th inning catch of Kepler's in RF, but Kepler isn't going to take his spot this year.  The Twins seem to trust Rosario for now in CF, with Robinson as a capable back-up, and Hicks rehabbing in the wings... which leaves only LF, it seems to be where Molitor likes to rotate his veterans, plus possibly Arcia is going to get another shot there if he gets his swing back.

 

 A trade or an injury seems the only way to break this logjam on Kepler's behalf.

[TNLooky2015]

Production from these guys is too "Powerful" to be overlooked and not tested at some point.

 

As mentioned before - Walker has more home runs than the entire Twins outfield combined.  That's CRAZY

[puckstopper1]

The "Bash Triplets"!!

[twinssouth]

Righto, twinssouth.  One look at the River Walk OF fence, and it was obvious that if that was the Lookouts home field they'd probably already have 50 home runs between them.  We've both said it before, but it bears repeating- AT&T Park/Chattanooga is a tough place to hit one out- the wall looks to be close to 20' high over most of the OF- with standard major league-type dimensions.  In just the one game I saw, there were 4 balls hit high off  the wall by Sano, Polanco and Walker, and another half dozen, cumulatively, knocked down by the wind.

 

Totally agree Jokin, and with all those ridiculous billboards, it's gotta be distracting to the hitters

[amjgt]

 

 

 

Walker needs to work on his %k rate.

 

 

 

If Walker could magically reduce his K rate down to 25% he'd be the best prospect in the game.

 

Yeah, I said it.

 

[amjgt]

 

Righto, twinssouth.  One look at the River Walk OF fence, and it was obvious that if that was the Lookouts home field they'd probably already have 50 home runs between them.  We've both said it before, but it bears repeating- AT&T Park/Chattanooga is a tough place to hit one out- the wall looks to be close to 20' high over most of the OF- with standard major league-type dimensions.  In just the one game I saw, there were 4 balls hit high off  the wall by Sano, Polanco and Walker, and another half dozen, cumulatively, knocked down by the wind.

 

Some interesting home/road splits for Walker.

 

He actually has more HR at home (12) in spite of 8 less games (31 vs 39). Also, he only has 5 doubles, compared to 13 on the road.

 

He's batting .311 on the road compared to .211 at home.

 

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=608724#/splits/R/hitting/2015/MINORS

 

[nater79a]

 

Sano is the most ready to get the call. I suspect he'll be with the Twins for the July 6th series against the Orioles. They may wait until after the All-Star Break so he doesn't sit around for four days.

 

Walker needs to work on his %k rate.

 

Kepler would be fun to see while Buxton and Hicks are on the shelf. He should at least move to AAA very soon. It's hard to argue with Kepler's performance this year. He's been consistent and dominant. He almost needs to be called up to find out what he needs to work on at the plate.  

 

Have to think Sano is up before the break. Otherwise he'd already be announced as a member of the World Team  for the Future's Game 

 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

I think Walker can carve out a role in the bigs, but I think he is a full year at each level until he gets there. My pushback is not that Walker has no chance, it's that he shouldn't be promoted as aggressively as is being suggested here.

 

 

I actually think the Twins SHOULD promote ABW the the bigs when they see a chance to. I say this not because I think he can bring value to the team, but to show him what its like. I think he would fail miserably and this might open his eyes to WHY he needs to work on his approach and take more walks. He seem like he might be a person who shrugs the advice off since he just keeps mashing and producing with the way he is playing and his approach. The problem is that he might not understand that this is only hurting him and that it will not correlate to the majors, which should be his ultimate goal. Bring him up to fail briefly, and send him back down. This needs to be done to HELP his development, and not HURT it as some might argue. It might be the only way to open his eyes. If he mashes for a stint, then great.

 

The rumor is that this is why the Cubs called up Baez last year, so that he could fail. He wasn't listening to people in the minors because he kept mashing, but he could not grasp that it wouldn't work in the majors. So, they brought him up to learn a hard lesson. This year he was working on taking pitches and better approach. He was still striking out, but not as much and took more walks. Yes, he got hurt, but was looking good and the callup and fail might have been the reason for this. 

 

ABW would benefit from this type of wakeup call, and maybe a handful of ABW crazy fans that think he can succeed the way he is playing at the majors. I DO think he could be a good major league player, but  not the way he is playing now. He needs a wakeup call to the majors to bring him back to reality, so that he can focus on approach and not his power. The power will always be there, so that should not be a worry. 

[ExpectMorePayLess]

 

I actually think the Twins SHOULD promote ABW the the bigs when they see a chance to. I say this not because I think he can bring value to the team, but to show him what its like. I think he would fail miserably and this might open his eyes to WHY he needs to work on his approach and take more walks. He seem like he might be a person who shrugs the advice off since he just keeps mashing and producing with the way he is playing and his approach. The problem is that he might not understand that this is only hurting him and that it will not correlate to the majors, which should be his ultimate goal. Bring him up to fail briefly, and send him back down. This needs to be done to HELP his development, and not HURT it as some might argue. It might be the only way to open his eyes. If he mashes for a stint, then great.

 

 

 

Well stated.  But why do we assume about things?  "Seems like a person who shrugs off advice"?  I'm pretty sure Walker is not reading Twins Daily and his coach already stated Walker was his most improved player to date.   

 

What is his current approach as you see it?  

Is he swinging at balls and not enough strikes?  

Is he missing strikes while laying off balls, but just missing?  

Is he seeing too many pitches (2nd most on team by the way)?  

Is he being too patient and forcing bad hitter counts?

 

Other than laying off pitches at the knees (as requested by coach), what about his approach needs work?  What have you noticed?  Truly?

 

I do like your approach as to promote and let fail.  Everyone learns from their failures.  And if he mashes for a stint, (as you said) then yes Great.

[TNLooky2015]

As I posted - All 3 are Game Changers

[lightfoot789]

Bash Brothers make MiLB Team of the Week along with Duffy

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/133599692/twins-miguel-sano-on-prospect-team-of-week

 

[lightfoot789]

ABW 23rd HR tonight / 4 in last 5 games (3 games in a row) and 11 in the month of June.  28 RBI in May and June each.  

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

Well stated.  But why do we assume about things?  "Seems like a person who shrugs off advice"?  I'm pretty sure Walker is not reading Twins Daily and his coach already stated Walker was his most improved player to date.   

 

What is his current approach as you see it?  

Is he swinging at balls and not enough strikes?  

Is he missing strikes while laying off balls, but just missing?  

Is he seeing too many pitches (2nd most on team by the way)?  

Is he being too patient and forcing bad hitter counts?

 

Other than laying off pitches at the knees (as requested by coach), what about his approach needs work?  What have you noticed?  Truly?

 

I do like your approach as to promote and let fail.  Everyone learns from their failures.  And if he mashes for a stint, (as you said) then yes Great.

That is a lot of questions to answer, and I am not invested enough to defend all of my opinions...well, because most were just simply my opinions. And they are guesses at that. But, I should make clear that I did not intend to imply that he has character issues with listening to coaching or anything like that. Only, that in any sport at any level, guys that are succeeding in a particular style tend to keep doing what is working for them, even though others may be telling them that it won't work that way as they move up to the next level. I used Baez as an example of being called up to fail with similar problems, as he mashed like crazy in the minors, but things are different in the majors. ABW is probably a great kid and I seriously am rooting for him to succeed and to K less and BB more.

 

As for all the questions, well, you know that I don't know any of the actual micro areas of his approach that he needs work on or is not good at, or is good at. I am not watching his games and don't even know where to find those micro type of stats. All I know is that the dude is striking out at an otherworldly pace compared to his peers, while not walking all that much. I do not know why he strikes out so damn much, and why he only has 7% bb% while having otherworldly power. So, I guess I was making some assumptions that he must have a pretty crappy approach in many ways, while maybe not in every way. 

 

Whatever the case, I do hope he walks more and strikes out less, while keeping blasting bombs. Again, I will just assume that his approach will need some major work in order for that to happen, while I do not the details of the how's of it. I just hope it happens because I would love to cheer for more power on our club...HR's are fun.

[twinssouth]

Some interesting home/road splits for Walker.

 

He actually has more HR at home (12) in spite of 8 less games (31 vs 39). Also, he only has 5 doubles, compared to 13 on the road.

 

He's batting .311 on the road compared to .211 at home.

 

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=608724#/splits/R/hitting/2015/MINORS

 

Thanks for posting those splits. But as Jokin and I were saying, ABW would probably have even more hr at home. Both of us have seen balls ricochet off the top of that high wall.