Twins Prospects Lead Scottsdale To Title

[Seth Stohs]

The Scottsdale Scorpions won the 2016 Arizona Fall League championship today with a 6-4 win. The Minnesota Twins prospects led the way.

 

Taylor Rogers started and went three shutout innings. He struck out two.

 

Trevor Hildenberger worked a perfect fourth inning.

 

Jake Reed walked the first batter he faced in the 8th inning, but then struck out the next three batters.

 

Stuart Turner did a great job behind the plate, though he didn't have a hit.

 

Adam Brett Walker had an RBI single and later he had a two-run double in the top of the 8th to give the Scorpions a 6-3 lead.

Nick Burdi came in for the bottom of the ninth inning. He gave up a leadoff home run to cut the lead to 6-4, but then got the next three outs on a groundout, a strikeout and a pop out. 

 

 

Jake Reed and Taylor Rogers were on last year's AFL championship team.

 

Reed, Burdi, Walker and Turner were on this year's Chattanooga team that won the Southern League championship.

 

Walker has now won championships in Elizabethton, Ft. Myers, Chattanooga and Scottsdale... Maybe next year in Rochester and soon a championship with the Twins? 

 

Congratulations also to Chattanooga Lookouts hitting coach Chad Allen who also was Scottsdale's hitting coach.

[DocBauer]

Very, very cool! The one homer Burdi isn't so great, but everything else about this AFL and this game is pretty awesome. I really don't know that you could ask for a whole lot more than these prospects delivered.

 

I feel Rogers has a real shot out of the bullpen coming out of ST. Burdi and Reed should be pushing for a spot at sometime...possibly mid-season.

 

You just can't bet against Walker can you? I want to take him in to a convenience store next time I buy a lottery ticket.

[Hrbowski]

I think this is the third time in four years our AFL team has won.

[Jham]

Watched the game, and Burdi's delivery particularly looks much smoother.  Reed looked fantastic with great downward plane on what looked like a change, but might have been a slider or 2 seamer.

 

ABW laced a pea down the line for 2 late insurance runs against one of the AFL best relievers.  Announcers said they were first RBI he'd given up.

[Monkeypaws]

ABW II - the man helps his teams win. I like that.

[GMinTraining]

Seth Stohs ‏@SethTweets  5h5 hours ago Minnesota, USA

Did you know: Adam Brett Walker (@walkoff28) has won titles in Elizabethton, Ft. Myers, Chattanooga and Scottsdale!?

 

 

I did - And did you know that even though ABW didn't win a championship in 2013 with Cedar Rapids - The Kernels finished the season with the best record in minor league baseball.  The Kernels actually played better in the second half of that season (minus playoffs of course).  If he were a QB or Pitcher - people would look at his ability to win so much differently.  Winning is contagious 

[Major League Ready]

 

Watched the game…

 

I have been pulling for Walker for a couple years now because of his ceiling.  It would be a big boost to the Twins if he can improve his approach or maybe its pitch recognition.   Four ABs is not much to go on and the man just keeps getting it done but he did not look good in terms of approach or pitch recognition.  Let’s hope he improves this approach in 2016 at AAA and contributes to a run of several years where our team is a serious contender.

 

Rogers looked pretty darn good.  He could contribute in 2016.  Burdi seems to have found some control.  He will be here too if he can sustain an acceptable level of control.

[jokin]

 

Watched the game…

 

 

 

Rogers looked pretty darn good.  He could contribute in 2016.  Burdi seems to have found some control.  He will be here too if he can sustain an acceptable level of control.

 

 

Concur. It's kind of interesting, Rogers has been the lead starter for Scottsdale all season, while Burdi has rarely pitched in the highest leverage situations, Reed has actually had that duty for the Scorpions- and he struck out the 4-5-6 guys in the order after walking Sanchez in the 8th inning.  

 

I think the plan for Burdi was building confidence in slightly lower leveraged situations- if so, Mission Accomplished. I've been watching Burdi's strike to ball ratio all fall- he's been nothing short of remarkable. Besides the 12 Ks vs. 1 BB... I would venture to guess that Burdi threw around 80% strikes this fall- in sharp contrast to his regular season control struggles.

[jokin]

 

Very, very cool! The one homer Burdi isn't so great, but everything else about this AFL and this game is pretty awesome. I really don't know that you could ask for a whole lot more than these prospects delivered.

 

I feel Rogers has a real shot out of the bullpen coming out of ST. Burdi and Reed should be pushing for a spot at sometime...possibly mid-season.

 

 

 

Yep, a fun game to watch. I really like the 15 second clock for the pitchers.  I do scratch my head over not having a gun available to track the pitches when MLB has the game on national TV, though. And not much to worry about in Burdi giving up his first ER of the fall- the pitch was away, but up just a little bit, something you throw to a hitter in a 6-3 game, not a 6-5 game.

 

I'll disagree with you a bit, though... I'll bet that Rogers is kept in a depth starting role in AAA. And along with Burdi and Reed, don't leave out Hildenberger if he continues maintaining his effectiveness- he's just the kind of guy the Twins would call up BEFORE the sexier names.

[jokin]

Trevor Hildenberger, as funky as his delivery appears to be, also looked very effective in his single inning. Lots of movement, yet pretty good location, on his pitches- even though he appeared to dial up the velocity a bit- against the heart of the Surprise order, including Sanchez. (The slider on his swinging strikeout was nasty.) One of the announcers thought he had a good shot to be part of the Twins' pen in 2016- I'm still not sure about that, but I will say that in my first time seeing him, he seems to have just enough craftiness and movement to theoretically get major league hitters out.

The announcers noted that Rogers went over 200 IP in yesterday's appearance- evidently the most in the minors in 2015. As much as I'd like to see him in the pen, I have the impression that the Twins still see him as a starter, and will place him as the #1 depth guy at Rochester to start out 2016.

In addition, I think it's pretty significant that the Scottsdale manager saw fit to have Twins' pitching prospects pitch 6 of the 9 innings in a championship game. (I would have liked to have seen Turner have a better overall showing in the AFL, but the Scorpions manager did also see fit to have him behind the plate in the championship game, so there's that... I remain hopeful that Turner performs in MLB-ball above the Butera floor... but...)

[Dman]

Yep, a fun game to watch. I really like the 15 second clock for the pitchers.  I do scratch my head over not having a gun available to track the pitches when MLB has the game on national TV, though. And not much to worry about in Burdi giving up his first ER of the fall- the pitch was away, but up just a little bit, something you throw to a hitter in a 6-3 game, not a 6-5 game.

 

I'll disagree with you a bit, though... I'll bet that Rogers is kept in a depth starting role in AAA. And along with Burdi and Reed, don't leave out Hildenberger if he continues maintaining his effectiveness- he's just the kind of guy the Twins would call up BEFORE the sexier names.

I agree on Rogers. The Twins don't have a lot of options when it comes to lefty starters. I don't think they will start the season with him as a reliever. AAA to start and then see where it goes from there.

[60ft6in]

So is Turner starting an indicator of where Garver's defense is since his hitting was significantly better then Turners for the AFL season? I know only one can start but.....

[roger]

With Rogers performance this fall, he could be one of the two top starters in Rochester come April.  Berrios, Rogers, Darnell, Dean and Meyer could make an awesome starting rotation for the Wings. 

 

I don't recall the Twins having five true prospects in the Red Wings rotation.  And this would be five prospects who all could be ready for "the show" sometime in 2016.  Their pitching depth sure has changed from a few years ago when they were calling up pitchers X, Y and Z!

[jimbo92107]

Stuart Turner's got more overall upside than Butera ever did, and AB Walker is going to be a terrifying threat in the middle of the lineup. 

[jokin]

 

Stuart Turner's got more overall upside than Butera ever did, and AB Walker is going to be a terrifying threat in the middle of the lineup. 

 

Better upside than Butera? Gulp... I sure hope so. That is indeed about the lowest bar that any prospect catcher can look to exceed.

 

Let's look at the comps (and noting that Butera was a mid-season promotion from High A):

 

Butera @ age 23 in AA: .210/.246/.269 (.514) BB% 3.95% K% 15.25%

 

Turner @ age 23 in AA/AFL: .214/.328/.289 (.610) BB% 13.00% K% 19.4%

 

Other than the ability to draw walks, there's not a lot of difference at the comparable age.

 

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I did - And did you know that even though ABW didn't win a championship in 2013 with Cedar Rapids - The Kernels finished the season with the best record in minor league baseball.  The Kernels actually played better in the second half of that season (minus playoffs of course).  If he were a QB or Pitcher - people would look at his ability to win so much differently.  Winning is contagious 

 

I did know that... 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Concur. It's kind of interesting, Rogers has been the lead starter for Scottsdale all season, while Burdi has rarely pitched in the highest leverage situations, Reed has actually had that duty for the Scorpions- and he struck out the 4-5-6 guys in the order after walking Sanchez in the 8th inning.  

 

I think the plan for Burdi was building confidence in slightly lower leveraged situations- if so, Mission Accomplished. I've been watching Burdi's strike to ball ratio all fall- he's been nothing short of remarkable. Besides the 12 Ks vs. 1 BB... I would venture to guess that Burdi threw around 80% strikes this fall- in sharp contrast to his regular season control struggles.

 

Improved control is huge for him, but I think he also learned that AA hitters can hit 100 mph fastballs... The 2-3 times I saw him this fall, he was great with the slider. Good control, sharp, late break... That's another key for him.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I'll disagree with you a bit, though... I'll bet that Rogers is kept in a depth starting role in AAA. And along with Burdi and Reed, don't leave out Hildenberger if he continues maintaining his effectiveness- he's just the kind of guy the Twins would call up BEFORE the sexier names.

 

Regarding Rogers... I'm told that his fastball and slider/curve are big league pitches now. Big league such that he could probably do well facing lefties out of the bullpen. What I've been told is that he's a changeup away from being a legit id-rotation starting pitching option. That would be the pitch that could help him with righties. I think it'd be ideal to have him as a starter, but he could be ready now out of the bullpen. I don't think either is wrong. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

So is Turner starting an indicator of where Garver's defense is since his hitting was significantly better then Turners for the AFL season? I know only one can start but.....

 

I think it's more of an indicator of where Turner is defensively. That's not a knock to Garver. Reports I've got on him this offseason are that he's greatly improved behind the plate and pitchers really love throwing to him too. Teams don't really care much about catcher offense. It's almost a bonus. 

 

I just think these two both can have a future in the big leagues. I really believe that. 

[jokin]

 

Regarding Rogers... I'm told that his fastball and slider/curve are big league pitches now. Big league such that he could probably do well facing lefties out of the bullpen. What I've been told is that he's a changeup away from being a legit id-rotation starting pitching option. That would be the pitch that could help him with righties. I think it'd be ideal to have him as a starter, but he could be ready now out of the bullpen. I don't think either is wrong. 

 

Good to hear about his stuff- he obviously had the manager's confidence in the AFL, even after throwing all of those innings in 2015. I think it was me that started the bandwagon clamor to get Rogers up in the Twins pen early last June- he dominated lefties at a ridiculous level- especially in the first half of the season. I still think they made a mistake in not calling him up to shore up the situation, but the Twins obviously had/have? another plan for him, at least for now.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Berrios, Rogers, Darnell, Dean and Meyer could make an awesome starting rotation for the Wings. 

 

I don't recall the Twins having five true prospects in the Red Wings rotation.

That would be Berrios plus 4 guys on the 40-man roster although I'm not sure what makes a "true" SP prospect.  Darnell and Meyer spent most of 2015 in the pen, and Dean has obvious issues not to mention his age/status (twice passed up in Rule 5 drafts previously).

 

Probably not that different in SP prospect depth than the 2015 Rochester season-opening rotation.  Jason Wheeler was a "true" prospect a year ago, right?  And Darnell was on the pen, just assigned to the pen in favor of Mark Hamburger (?).

 

2014 wasn't far off either, led by May and Meyer plus Darnell and Kris Johnson also on the 40-man (plus Gilmartin midseason).  2013 also had Hendriks and Gibson leading the way, with Albers and some others emerging midseason.

 

There was a definite dearth of SP prospects there before that, though, probably dating to at least 2007-2008 (although the Twins probably thought a few of those duds were "true" prospects at the time too).