Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/11): Top Pitching Prospects Take Mound

[rdehring]

 

Well, he only pitched 102 innings last year, so not too many bullets, at least.

 

And now that he's at AA, and he requires a 40-man spot after the season anyway, perhaps we'll see him in MLB before too long. Alcala and Jax are in a similar spot at AA.

With the names you mention and I expect many others, gonna be some real teeth grinding coming out of Target Field come November.  Expect there is going to be some real talent exposed to the Rule 5.  Hopefully, some of it will be dealt this summer so we get something in return.

[Jim Hahn]

That explains a lot. That might also explain why the last 2 trades concentrated on athletic CF types (Zeigler and Andreoli) rather than guys who hit. Looks like we need a CF for the AAA club, although I think Andreoli is there but not playing.

Actually, Andreoli seems to be playing center most nights. The other outfielders are rotating thru the DH spot. So all 4 are in the lineup most nights.

[Jim Hahn]

So far, Wade has played 8 games. Raley has the fewest with 5 and the fewest ab's with 16. Wiel is in the mix somewhere as he has 6 games and they aren't all at first probably because of Rosario.

[Seth Stohs]

 

That's another thing to keep in mind here -- Balazovic is repeating the level. Not that he's old, of course, but he has faced this level of competition before, which might explain some of his hot start.

 

Also, while he's been very good through 2 games, he hasn't been as efficient as one might like to see. 83 pitches and he didn't finish the 5th inning in this start. Outs and strikeouts are nice, but it seems like the best prospects can put away minor league hitters with a bit more efficiency.

 

Obviously still very early in the season, and early in Balazovic's career, so plenty of time for him to improve -- but it's also probably still early to say Law was right and others wrong too.

 

He's kind of on the Gonsalves timeline. And I know Gonsalves has told me that it was a good plan for him. Finish a year with 10-12 starts at a level. Learn stuff. Go to the offseason. Work on stuff. Go back there, make another 10-12 starts, move up about the halfway mark, and repeat all the way up.  I was thinking about that as it relates to Balazovic, and I really like it. 

 

"Repeat the level" to me means spending a full year at a level. 10-12 starts isn't a lot at all. 

 

And strikeout pitchers tend to throw more pitches, and in the lower levels, there can be more 3-2 types of counts. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

After their first 250 at-bats (collectively), Fort Myers team BA is .201 and team SLG is .297. Was looking forward to watching them given the very large number of top-20 position players in the lineup, but so far in my two attempts it's been like watching paint dry. As a group, still getting their BB, and not striking out a ton...but still waiting for the base hits, and x-base hits.

 

A quick look at those top prospects, and they're all 19-21 and playing against guys who are 23-24 (obvious exceptions on both sides). Baddoo is playing his first games there. Miranda and Lewis weren't there for long. Jeffers, Larnach and Helman were 2019 picks trying to figure their way on and off the field still. 

 

My point isn't that we shouldn't expect them to improve. They are all immensely talented and most likely will work their way through it. 

 

Prospect status doesn't always equate to on-field stats and wins.