Twins Spotlight: Episode 22 (Zander Wiel)

[Seth Stohs]

On Tuesday night (6:00 central time), Seth will be chatting with Twins minor league first base prospect Zander Wiel on a new episode of Twins Spotlight.

The discussion was live on the Twins Daily social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages.

Zander Wiel grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Like fellow Blackman High School graduate David Price, he then headed northwest on highway 24 to Nashville where he went to Vanderbilt. He had a terrific career that included a College World Series championship in 2014 and a runner up in 2015.

He was the Twins 12th round pick in 2015 and went to Elizabethton. He led the Midwest League in RBI in 2016. He moved up to Ft. Myers in 2017. In 2018, he hit well in Double-A Chattanooga before finishing the season with 15 games in Rochester. In 2019, he had a terrific season for the Red Wings. In 126 games, he hit .254/.320/.514 (.834) with 40 doubles, five triples and 24 RBI.

He was invited to big league spring training in 2020 and was getting a lot of playing time in games when the pandemic cut things short. He worked at the alternate site in St. Paul throughout the 2020 season. On Monday, he was among players invited to big-league spring training.

Join us live at 6:00 tonight to watch, and participate by sending your questions. We'll cover a ton of topics from his youth ball, Vanderbilt, draft, development, his '2020 season' and heading to Ft. Myers for spring training and more.

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Please watch LIVE at 6:00 pm (central time) Tuesday night on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them.

Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts.

Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show.

For More on Zander Wiel:

• Follow Zander on Instagram at @zwiel43.
  
• Follow Zander on Twitter at @Zander_Wiel.
  

Previous Episodes

Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight.

Episode 13: Edwar Colina

Episode 14: Tyler Wells

Episode 15: Sawyer Gipson-Long

Episode 16: Adam Bray

Episode 17: Chris Vallimont

Episode 18: Ben Gross

Episode 19: Regi Grace

Episode 20: Louie Varland

Episode 21: Max Smith

Episode 22: Zander Wiel

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[Dman]

Always been a big fan of Wiel.  Kind of was hoping they would trade him to a club that could use 1st baseman type as I think he could make it.  He doesn't have super star status but I think he could possibly be an average 1st baseman if given shot.  Thing time is running out and while his numbers have been good at AAA they generally need to be great to get a chance.  Maybe this is the year he makes sure a team notices him.

[Joey P]

I call him Wielhouse! He can sure hit! He is just not your prototypical homerun power hitter, especially for a first baseman. But he can hit it hard on a line to the gaps.

[ashbury]

I call him Wielhouse! He can sure hit! He is just not your prototypical homerun power hitter, especially for a first baseman. But he can hit it hard on a line to the gaps.

Wielhouse!