One Twins Pitching Prospect is Quietly Putting Himself on the Prospect Map

[Cody Christie]

Pitching prospects can take years to develop through a team's minor league system. One pitching prospect has started to compile numbers that will be tough to ignore by the season's end.

Image courtesy of McKenzie Short, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Entering the 2023 season, the Twins wanted to make room on the roster for Jose Miranda to take over as the team's full-time third baseman. Gio Urshela had one year remaining of team control and was coming off a strong year where his WAR ranked in the top-5 among Twins players. Minnesota traded him to the Angels for Alejandro Hidalgo, a teenage pitching prospect. At the time of the trade, he ranked as the Angels' number 22 prospect per MLB Pipeline. Hidalgo is off to a good start in the Twins organization and might point to an even stronger performance moving forward. 

The Angels signed Hidalgo in July 2019 as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela. He wasn't highly sought after in that international class, and the Angels signed him for $30,000. Due to the pandemic, his professional debut didn't come until 2021, when he pitched seven games in rookie ball. In 27 innings, he allowed 14 earned runs on 26 hits, including six home runs. There were some positive signs, as he posted a 31-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he gave up too many hits. He was nearly three years younger than the competition at his level, and he never faced a batter younger than himself. 

In 2022, the Angels continued to be aggressive with Hidalgo by sending him to Low-A. He made ten starts while posting a 4.62 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 39 innings. His home run rate dropped from 2.0 HR/9 in his professional debut to 0.7 HR/9. His strikeout rate jumped from 10.3 K/9 to 13.4 K/9, but he also saw an increase in his walk rate (3.0 BB/9 to 4.4 BB/9). Nearly 94% of his plate appearances came against older batters, so he remained young for his level. His innings were limited due to a rotator cuff strain that ended his season in June. 

Since joining the Twins, the club has focused on smoothing out his delivery. According to MLB.com, he attended the Twins' velocity camp in an attempt to get more velo from his delivery. He entered the season with a fastball that averages 92 mph with a solid change-up, which resulted in a 44% miss rate during the 2022 season. The Twins have also worked with him on developing a slider to replace a curveball he had thrown in the past. 

Minnesota assigned Hidalgo to Cedar Rapids to begin the 2023 season. For the first time in his career, he is over three years younger than the average age of the competition, but his performance hasn't suffered with this assignment. In his first four appearances, he has allowed two earned runs on 11 hits with a 17-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has yet to allow a home run, but his sample size has been limited to 14 innings. His last appearance was terrific as he pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings with nine strikeouts and one walk while limiting batters to three hits. 

Hidalgo is only 19 years old and far from Target Field. Also, he has dealt with injuries during his first two professional seasons. The Angels' general manager Perry Minasian had glowing things to say about Hidalgo. "It's always tough to trade young players, especially a great kid with a good arm and a bright future," Minasian said. "But at the end of the day, you have to give to get. I think he's going to have a great career, and hopefully this trade works out for both sides."    

The Twins have seen positive results from Hidalgo so far, and the club hopes he can continue pitching himself into the team's long-term plans. What are your early impressions of Hidalgo? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

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[Major League Ready]

He has a great K rate and a terrible walk rate.  Of course, he is just 19 years old.  I already had him on my "watch list".  Hopefully we see improved command over the course of the next couple years.   

[ashbury]

He's just a baby but it's great to have him in the system and follow his progress.

[Parfigliano]

19 YOA provides lots of time to work out the kinks to cut the walks and add velocity.

[FlyingFinn]

8 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

19 YOA provides lots of time to work out the kinks to cut the walks and add velocity.

Not exactly. The reason they traded him the time is coming to put him on the 40 man roster. That would be December 2023. It can be tough to take up a 40 man roster spot on a player who hasn't passed A ball.

[gbg]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Not exactly. The reason they traded him the time is coming to put him on the 40 man roster. That would be December 2023. It can be tough to take up a 40 man roster spot on a player who hasn't passed A ball.

With the pandemic eliminating the 2020 minor league seasons, does 2020 count as one of the five seasons that a player has to play before becoming Rule V eligible?

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, gbg said:

With the pandemic eliminating the 2020 minor league seasons, does 2020 count as one of the five seasons that a player has to play before becoming Rule V eligible?

Fangraphs lists him as Rule 5 eligible in Dec 2023.

[Fat Calvin]

I'd rather have kept Urshela.

[Major League Ready]

8 hours ago, Fat Calvin said:

I'd rather have kept Urshela.

I was a big supporter of Urshela when others were complaining about the Donaldson trade.  However, they replaced him with Farmer and Urshela currently has a wRC+ of 85.  I will take Farmer's versatility and great bat against LH pitching for 2 years and less money plus a prospect over 1 year of Urshela every chance I get,  

[FlyingFinn]

10 hours ago, Fat Calvin said:

I'd rather have kept Urshela.

Urshela has 1 HR and 12 RBI's. As the previous poster said, if we wanted better defense, Farmer is the one. Farmer at 3B, Buxton in CF and Miranda at DH would make us better.

[jmlease1]

16 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Not exactly. The reason they traded him the time is coming to put him on the 40 man roster. That would be December 2023. It can be tough to take up a 40 man roster spot on a player who hasn't passed A ball.

True, but you can also expose a guy like that too because at age 20 is he going to be able to stick on a MLB roster for a full season, even as a reliever? Few teams are going to be able to hold the 26-man roster spot on a lottery ticket.

He's definitely showing some signs, but unless he can get that walk rate under control he's going to definitely hit some bumps. He's not unhittable so it's a few too many baserunners right now. But he's doing well for a 20 year old at high A.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

True, but you can also expose a guy like that too because at age 20 is he going to be able to stick on a MLB roster for a full season, even as a reliever?

Poor teams will do this with pitchers but very seldom hitters (Baddoo was an exception but has had mixed results as well). If Hidalgo gets a sniff of AA this year, he will be exactly where Tyler Wells was when Baltimore took him in the Rule 5 draft. IMO we will end up being much more sorry for not protecting Wells rather than Baddoo.