2023 MLB Draft Day 2 Thread

[2wins87]

There's the completely expected college pitcher pick now.

A little surprised they didn't go for a more physical guy, but I do see a few things in his profile that seem to fit their type from past drafts.  A FB that plays up despite not having great velocity, at least one very good secondary and good control.

It's a good foundation to work with if they add some velocity, or maybe even if they don't.

[Dman]

Might finally be in pitcher mode.  Guessing the Twins think they can add some velocity to the fastball and make the slider better.  Seems like he might be a Joe Ryan lite type pitcher.  Twins like pitchers that have control and he has a plus, plus changeup so at least one plus pitch to give him a floor as a reliever.  

Not a bad pick but was hoping for a bigger fastball there. MLB's board has this as a slight value pick for the Twins.  At least we know the Twins aren't hunting for money like some clubs who took players way off the board.  

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

https://www.twinkietown.com/2019/6/7/18656038/mlb-draft-2019-minnesota-twins-draft-recap -  needless to say I think he was right on the #1 draft pick, but beyond that was a pretty successful draft.   

[jishfish]

This is all I needed to see to know Hall was a good pick.

[Mike Sixel]

21 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

The media has had concerns on day 2 and 3, most of the thrashing is on the board.  

I mean, not sure how fangraphs can both trash them and rank them 13th.... 

In any event, I like the upside play of HS players.

[AceWrigley]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

No one from the last two drafts is in the majors in any team, meaning we should look at what they've done in four years. It's not great, but it's also not bad. 

Actually, 2 players from the 2021 draft, Matt McLain (CIN) starts at shortstop and Henry Davis (PIT) is getting starts in right field, and from the 2022 draft Zach Neto (LAA) was the starting shortstop before getting injured. A very fast track for these guys who are holding their own at the MLB level.

[AceWrigley]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

No one from the last two drafts is in the majors in any team, meaning we should look at what they've done in four years. It's not great, but it's also not bad. 

Actually, 2 players from the 2021 draft, Matt McLain (CIN) starts at shortstop and Henry Davis (PIT) is getting starts in right field, and from the 2022 draft Zach Neto (LAA) was the starting shortstop before getting injured. A very fast track for these guys who are holding their own at the MLB level.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, AceWrigley said:

Actually, 2 players from the 2021 draft, Matt McLain (CIN) starts at shortstop and Henry Davis (PIT) is getting starts in right field, and from the 2022 draft Zach Neto (LAA) was the starting shortstop before getting injured. A very fast track for these guys who are holding their own at the MLB level.

Fair. I forgot about Neto.

But, really, the point stands......

[DJL44]

High school pitcher from Wisconsin

[Dman]

Well I wanted a pitcher with a better fastball and I wanted high school players and the Twins gave me both with Questad.  Looks like a lot of development needed and I don't see a plus secondary but the Twins wouldn't pick him this high if they didn't think they couldn't enhance his repertoire.

I thought they were likely done with high school picks but I like this pick. Hoping for more arms. 

[Mike Sixel]

I like this draft, knowing NOTHING about the guys after day 1 other than their positions and age.

[roger]

Interesting with so many high school kids.  Were they clearly the best available?  Or are the Twins focusing on getting another wave of talent 5-6 years from now?

For those of you who don't know where Waterford, Wi is, it is down by the Illinois border near Racine.  There was a gal from there, say 55-60 years ago who went to UW-Oshkosh who was drop dead gorgeous.  OK, what's the baseball connection?  I believe she married a Dodger infielder.  Think he was a second baseman, but don't recall his name.

Does Hall remind anyone else of Griffin Jax?

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Jay Harry, SS — Penn State

Straight up, Harry is one of my favorite players in the 2023 MLB Draft. He’s not the most physically gifted player in this class, but there’s not another player in the country who night after night comes into the clubhouse with a filthier jersey. He’s a scrappy kid who gets the most out of his ability. Harry had a strong year posting a .299/.376/.463 slash with 6 homers and 6 stolen bases. He had nearly as many walks, 20, as he did strikeouts (21). Harry saw 45 breaking balls inside the zone north of 80 mph. He made contact on 97 percent of those swings and averaged 94 mph on those batted balls. To be fair to the process, it should be noted Harry had a ton of foul balls on those swings. But the balls he kept between the white lines were pummeled.

 

As previously mentioned, Harry doesn’t have the most intimidating physical tools, but he’s a gritty player who might belong somewhere on day three. All of his raw power presents itself to the pull-side thanks to a whippy bat path. He more often than not utilizes an inside-out swing that neutralizes his power. The whole package will likely never be a double-digit dinger guy, but he’s the type of guy who could run into 25 doubles in a season if given the opportunity. On the high end, maybe he’s a Brad Miller type of profile. Harry is very fun to watch on defense and has a shot to stick at shortstop moving forward.

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Jay Harry, SS — Penn State

Straight up, Harry is one of my favorite players in the 2023 MLB Draft. He’s not the most physically gifted player in this class, but there’s not another player in the country who night after night comes into the clubhouse with a filthier jersey. He’s a scrappy kid who gets the most out of his ability. Harry had a strong year posting a .299/.376/.463 slash with 6 homers and 6 stolen bases. He had nearly as many walks, 20, as he did strikeouts (21). Harry saw 45 breaking balls inside the zone north of 80 mph. He made contact on 97 percent of those swings and averaged 94 mph on those batted balls. To be fair to the process, it should be noted Harry had a ton of foul balls on those swings. But the balls he kept between the white lines were pummeled.

 

As previously mentioned, Harry doesn’t have the most intimidating physical tools, but he’s a gritty player who might belong somewhere on day three. All of his raw power presents itself to the pull-side thanks to a whippy bat path. He more often than not utilizes an inside-out swing that neutralizes his power. The whole package will likely never be a double-digit dinger guy, but he’s the type of guy who could run into 25 doubles in a season if given the opportunity. On the high end, maybe he’s a Brad Miller type of profile. Harry is very fun to watch on defense and has a shot to stick at shortstop moving forward.

Looking at his stats he has a good approach at the plate with as many walks as K's.  My type of player because the bat should be so strong.  Will have to work on the slugging but good get for the 6th round IMO.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

3 minutes ago, roger said:

Interesting with so many high school kids.  Were they clearly the best available?  Or are the Twins focusing on getting another wave of talent 5-6 years from now?

For those of you who don't know where Waterford, Wi is, it is down by the Illinois border near Racine.  There was a gal from there, say 55-60 years ago who went to UW-Oshkosh who was drop dead gorgeous.  OK, what's the baseball connection?  I believe she married a Dodger infielder.  Think he was a second baseman, but don't recall his name.

Twins have some college prospects in the pipeline, they could take a few more big swings this year.  The two first round picks has not been outside of the wheelhouse of the Twins, however having 2 is a bit odd.  Getting a HS player in the 5th round is something that hasn't happened for a couple reasons,  the biggest is most HS players don't want to commit for the money being offered.  To get a quality player like Questad is a major win for the Twins.  It is more upside,  the Twins may be giving those who want a lot more pitchers what they want.   

[weitz41]

I like this draft at this point.

Winokur and Hall stand out to me on day 2. Winokur has all kinds of upside and add a tick or two to Hall's stuff and he could go from good to really good. If the pool money works out Questad is interesting as well. Grow 2 inches and add 20 lbs of muscle and he could be a starter as well. A lot of Marco Raya in size and stuff right now. Harry has that none 20-80 scale factor. He's just a good ball player.

Haven't picked a catcher yet...How about Julian Brock from ULL

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, weitz41 said:

I like this draft at this point.

Winokur and Hall stand out to me on day 2. Winokur has all kinds of upside and add a tick or two to Hall's stuff and he could go from good to really good. If the pool money works out Questad is interesting as well. Grow 2 inches and add 20 lbs of muscle and he could be a starter as well. A lot of Marco Raya in size and stuff right now. Harry has that none 20-80 scale factor. He's just a good ball player.

Haven't picked a catcher yet...How about Julien Brock from ULL

I'd rather they keep taking pitchers at this point. It would be unusual for a C taken this late to be good at the MLB level...I'd just keep waiting on C. 

[weitz41]

4 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'd rather they keep taking pitchers at this point. It would be unusual for a C taken this late to be good at the MLB level...I'd just keep waiting on C. 

No agruement here. I just like a young college senior with 55 arm and 50 defense. More arms works as well.

[Dman]

Looks like a senior sign to save some money at pick 7.  I am happy with this draft so far. They got several high school players with good projection and a couple of college players with high floors and solid upside.  From here on out I have no info on the players but will likely complain anyway.  Hopefully they have drafted a bunch of difference makers.

[nicksaviking]

I can't believe the Twins took four HS kids in the top 6. That's a pretty anti-Twins thing to do lately, and I like it, assuming they're all signable.

[Dave Borton]

Round 7
Nolan Santos, Bethune Cookman.

A Historical Black College. I used to attend Florida A&M  / Bethune Cookman football games when I lived in Tampa. Lousy football but marching bands? Phenomenal.

Bethune had a one legged tackle who blocked on PATs. Great human interest story.

[jmlease1]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'd rather they keep taking pitchers at this point. It would be unusual for a C taken this late to be good at the MLB level...I'd just keep waiting on C. 

Yeah, I think the twins have a bunch of guys in the organization right now at the position, just not anyone that is a breakout guy or projects comfortably as a big-league starter. But there are several guys that might be able to hit their way up clustered in A/AA now. They're missing higher ceiling projection guys right now, which they're not finding late in the draft.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, nicksaviking said:

I can't believe the Twins took four HS kids in the top 6. That's a pretty anti-Twins thing to do lately, and I like it, assuming they're all signable.

I'm sure they don't take them w/o a number agreed to (or close to agreed to).....so I'm guessing they do sign them all. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'd rather they keep taking pitchers at this point. It would be unusual for a C taken this late to be good at the MLB level...I'd just keep waiting on C. 

Just don't tell that to Andrew Cossetti :).  I think you can find solid steals through the top 10-11 rounds most year,  this year may be even a tad deeper.  

[jishfish]

I'm sure he's probably going back to school at this point, but surprised Alex Mooney out of Duke hasn't been taken yet. I always thought he fit the Spencer Steer/generic college SS with no stand-out tools but solid skills across the board. 

Would love for the Twins to find a way to snag/pay him, but I'm sure that's unlikely with the number of preps they've taken.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Looks like we got another high strikeout pitcher in Santos.   See what the staff can do with him.  Likely a senior sign to save a few dollars, or maybe they really like him.  

[jishfish]

1 minute ago, jishfish said:

I'm sure he's probably going back to school at this point, but surprised Alex Mooney out of Duke hasn't been taken yet. I always thought he fit the Spencer Steer/generic college SS with no stand-out tools but solid skills across the board. 

Would love for the Twins to find a way to snag/pay him, but I'm sure that's unlikely with the number of preps they've taken.

And he immediately goes to CLE. Always knew he was going to be a bust! So glad the Twins avoided him.

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Just don't tell that to Andrew Cossetti :).  I think you can find solid steals through the top 10-11 rounds most year,  this year may be even a tad deeper.  

Can? Sure. Likely? Um, no? 

[nicksaviking]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

I'm sure they don't take them w/o a number agreed to (or close to agreed to).....so I'm guessing they do sign them all. 

Yeah, you'd have to assume so. It used to be that several HS kids drafted in the first ten rounds didn't sign, but looking back, I only see one unsigned HS player drafted in the first ten rounds, since 2020.  In 2021 Houston whiffed on one.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, you'd have to assume so. It used to be that several HS kids drafted in the first ten rounds didn't sign, but looking back, I only see one unsigned HS player drafted in the first ten rounds, since 2020.  In 2021 Houston whiffed on one.

That's an amazing stat!