Ranking the Twins Top-5 Hit Tool Prospects: 2023

[Cody Christie]

MLB has limited defensive shifts, making putting the ball in play even more critical in the coming years. Here are five Twins prospects to watch during the 2023 season because of their hit tool.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

In recent years, the Twins have been lucky to have some strong hitters come through the farm system. Minnesota expects Alex Kirilloff and Jose Miranda to be key contributors to the 2023 roster, while former Twin Luis Arraez is coming off the AL Batting Title. Will any of the prospects below be the team's next batting champ?

Scouts and front office personnel use a 20-80 scale to evaluate players' tools. This ranking system also projects how those tools will improve as the player develops. Below are the top five Twins prospects regarding current and future hit tool potential.

5. Edouard Julien, IF
Current Hit/Future Hit: 45/55
MLB Pipeline gives other Twins prospects a 50-hit tool, but it's hard to have a top-5 list and not include Julien. Last season, he hit .300/.441/.490 (.931) with 39 extra-base hits in 113 Double-A games. The Twins sent him to the Arizona Fall League, and he went 28-for-70 (.400) with five doubles and five home runs in 21 games. Julien has been tremendous for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, but the Twins have already optioned him to Triple-A. The only question that remains is how much he can help the Twins in 2023.  

4. Austin Martin, SS/OF
Current Hit/Future Hit: 50/55
Martin is coming off a tough 2022 season that saw him fall from a consensus top-100 prospect to needing to prove himself in 2023. He finished the year on a high note by hitting .277/.392/.431 (.823) in September. The Twins sent him to the Arizona Fall League, and he continued his hot hitting. In 97 plate appearances, he hit .374/.454/.482 (.936) with seven extra-base hits and more walks (8) than strikeouts (7). Minnesota worked with Martin on his swing to get more power, but that approach didn't work, and he was feeling more like himself this spring. Unfortunately, a UCL sprain in his right elbow will cause him to miss the start of the 2023 season.

3. Bryan Acuna, SS
Current Hit/Future Hit: 55/60
Acuna is the younger brother of Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr., and they have very similar swings. The Twins signed him as part of the 2022 international class for roughly $870,000. He debuted professionally in the Dominican Summer League last season and hit .310/.409/.393 (.803) with 12 doubles. He has grown up around baseball and is known for his ability to make solid contact. Entering his age-17 season, he will come stateside, where the Twins can get an even closer look at the younger Acuna. He projects to be smaller than his brother, but that doesn't mean he can't have a better hit tool.

2. Danny De Andrade, SS/3B 
Current Hit/Future Hit: 55/60 
De Andrade has fewer than 100 games played, but he has already made his mark on the Twins organization. MLB.com ranked him as the 14th-best prospect in 2021, and the Twins signed him for $2.2 million. He's known for his bat-to-ball skills, but he can chase pitches out of the zone. De Andrade showed improvement last season in laying off balls and hit .284/.393/.453 (.846) with nine extra-base hits from July 4- August 16. All but five of his plate appearances came against older pitchers, which makes his performance even more impressive. He should get his first taste of Low-A this year in his age-19 campaign.   

1. Brooks Lee, SS
Current Hit/Future Hit: 65/65
Many evaluators considered Lee the top college hitter in the 2022 MLB Draft, so the Twins were ecstatic that he fell to them with the eighth overall pick. In three collegiate seasons, he hit .351/.426/.647 (1.073) with more walks (64) than strikeouts (63). He played well in wood-bat summer leagues throughout college, which helped increase his draft stock. He played at three levels during his pro debut and hit .303/.389/.451 (.839) with six doubles and four home runs. He's a switch hitter with tremendous bat-to-ball skills that help him generate power. Lee will likely start the year at Double-A, but there's a chance he will make his debut in 2023. 

Who do you think has the best hit tool in the Twins system? Should someone else make the list? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

 

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[miracleb]

Right now, it is hard to get Austin Martin into the top 10 of ANY list....hope he can turn it around!

[FlyingFinn]

Not Royce Lewis? Projecting more power than batting average maybe.... But I would have him on my list rather than Martin.

If we are including a young guy like Acuna, I would have Yasser Mercedes in my list. Julien would be an OBP champ possibly but probably not a batting champ.

Thanks for putting these lists together. They are fun to debate.

[chpettit19]

@Cody Christie Can you explain where you're getting these grades from and what you're trying to show with the current grades? I'm really struggling to understand how Bryan Acuna and Danny De Andrade have a current hit grade of 55. I'm quite positive neither of those guys could hit .270+ in the majors today (a general cutoff for what a 55 grade hit tool would mean). What is their current grade supposed to be showing?

[roger]

Curious why Em Rodriguez isn't on this list?  Also, Mercedes.  Didn't he hit better than Acuna in last summer's DSL?  Do recall that Acuna was batting .100 something the first few weeks of the season, then tore the cover off the ball the rest of the year.

[Doctor Gast]

Pretty tough to settle for 5. Projections are projections, that's all they are. Until they start establishing & putting up some numbers. Lee, Martin and Julien have done that plus are OB machines. It nice to dream about players like De Andrades & Acuna in what they are capable to do.

[mikelink45]

I have to have Julien #2 behind Lee.  Then I hope Lewis is three and Rodriguez is four and climbing.  Martin has a lot more to prove.  And I do not know who to put at #5.  

[Beast]

How can Acuna and De Andre have a higher current hit tool than a guy like Julien who put up a higher average against better competition?  Seems flawed.

Future I understand.  But, current is current.  

[Cody Christie]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

@Cody Christie Can you explain where you're getting these grades from and what you're trying to show with the current grades? I'm really struggling to understand how Bryan Acuna and Danny De Andrade have a current hit grade of 55. I'm quite positive neither of those guys could hit .270+ in the majors today (a general cutoff for what a 55 grade hit tool would mean). What is their current grade supposed to be showing?

In the article, I linked to the grades that I used for their current rankings (MLB.com). For future grades, I used a combination from multiple sites (Baseball America, FanGraphs, etc.). 

[chpettit19]

Just now, Cody Christie said:

In the article, I linked to the grades that I used for their current rankings (MLB.com). For future grades, I used a combination from multiple sites (Baseball America, FanGraphs, etc.). 

FYI, those MLB.com grades are not their current grades, they're their future grades. That's where my confusion came from. Acuna and De Andrade are current 25-30s. Maybe a 35 if a scout is feeling generous that day.

[puckstopper1]

Was a similar current/future grading done with Arraez?  I'd be curious to see his grades as he progressed thru the system as a means of comparison to the current Twins prospects.

[chpettit19]

38 minutes ago, puckstopper1 said:

Was a similar current/future grading done with Arraez?  I'd be curious to see his grades as he progressed thru the system as a means of comparison to the current Twins prospects.

Fangraph's grades on him in 2019 were 45 current/60 future. Proved to be too low on both.

He wasn't really a top 30 system prospect for many people so not a ton of public scouting reports (at least not on the sites I subscribe to).

[DocBauer]

Nothing against Acuna or DeAndre who are both potentially really good prospects. And I eagerly await to see what they, and many others, do this season. But I wouldn't have them on this list at this point.

I also wouldn't have Julien anywhere other than the top 3. 

I also have to echo other comments as to where is Lewis? He's still a prospect ar this point and belongs on this list based on his 2022. And no Rodriguez? How is he missing? I can forgive no Mercedes simply due to the fact you have to cut the list somewhere, and apparently it's at 5.

But Lewis and Rodriguez simply have to be on this list.

Edit: I've got to see Martin healthy and continuing where he left off in the AFL before I'd list him.

[jmlease1]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:51 AM, roger said:

Curious why Em Rodriguez isn't on this list?  Also, Mercedes.  Didn't he hit better than Acuna in last summer's DSL?  Do recall that Acuna was batting .100 something the first few weeks of the season, then tore the cover off the ball the rest of the year.

Rodriguez is probably projected as more of a power tool guy, than a contact/hit tool player?

DeAndrade might be a fun player to track this season to see how he develops.

[nicksaviking]

"Many evaluators considered Lee the top college hitter in the 2022 MLB Draft, so the Twins were ecstatic that he fell to them with the eighth overall pick."

Pretty sure this sentence must just autofill on every TD article that references Lee. I've had to have read that exact phrase a dozen times by now!