Twins Select Dasan Hill at #69 in the 2024 MLB Draft

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Minnesota Twins selected Dasan Hill at number 69 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft. Hill is a left-handed prep pitcher from Grapevine, Texas and committed to Dallas Baptist.

Dasan Hill is a projectable prep pitcher who has been moving steadily up draft boards this spring after notable improvements in his velocity and stuff.

At 6'4, 175 pounds, Hill is tall and lean and has plenty more velocity in the tank if he can add some good weight to an athletic frame. His fastball will sit in the 94-95 mph range early in outings before sitting 91-93 mph by the middle innings.

Hill throws a slider in the low 80s that has good spin, a high 70s curveball, and has a low 80s changeup that's barely been used. He has to work to do on secondary pitch shapes, and strength needs to be added to the frame, but was a name with plenty of helium through the draft process.

What do you think of the Twins selecting Dasan Hill at #69 overall? Which of the Twins picks from day one of the draft are you most excited for? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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[rickyriolo]

I like the pick. Left handed pitchers is what the system needs more of.

[gunnarthor]

I think this was their best pick although they've really struggled developing pitchers so, who knows. But this is the type of arm they should be glad to get into the system.

[SotaSports in NM]

14 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

...although they've really struggled developing pitchers so...

At the MLB level, that's fair. To date it's been Ober, SWR, and Varland to an extent. But the development of upcoming depth in the minors hasn't been a struggle in a last few years. Of course, MLB pitcher development is all that matters.

[Dman]

Most exciting pick of the night.  Big, tall lanky lefty that can already throw strikes with projection left.  He was rated the 24th best prospect on Fangraphs. They did well to nab him at pick 69.  Hoping for more pitchers on day 2.  There isn't much left for bats left so I think they should go arms pretty much the rest of the way.

[DocBauer]

The most "fun" pick of the night. He wasn't my first choice as there were a couple other young arms ranked ahead of him. But not only might there be a $ concern that's hard to meet to keep them from college, but the growth and growth potential of Hill is interesting.

Scouting report says he grew 3", added 15lbs and a good 3-4mph from last summer until now. Imagine him with 20 more lbs in 2 years, greater velocity, and better control/command. I like HS pitchers who are good but are just hitting their big growth spurt. 

[DocBauer]

42 minutes ago, Dman said:

Most exciting pick of the night.  Big, tall lanky lefty that can already throw strikes with projection left.  He was rated the 24th best prospect on Fangraphs. They did well to nab him at pick 69.  Hoping for more pitchers on day 2.  There isn't much left for bats left so I think they should go arms pretty much the rest of the way.

Yep. But still have to grab a couple position players, just to fill rosters and hope to strike gold. There's a catcher or two that have my eye.

I'm wondering if the Twins saved a little $ on any of the first 3 picks to grab and sign another HS arm in the 3rd round? Certainly some interesting kids still out there.

A college arm that Jeremy mentioned, Ryan Prager from Texas A&M, would be a perfect fit for the Twins philosophy. He's 6' 3", 200 lbs, and is probably maxed out physically. But he's got control and a good change, solid slider and FB. If they could coach up a couple mph on his FB, he might be a steal. 

[Dman]

1 minute ago, DocBauer said:

Yep. But still have to grab a couple position players, just to fill rosters and hope to strike gold. There's a catcher or two that have my eye.

I'm wondering if the Twins saved a little $ on any of the first 3 picks to grab and sign another HS arm in the 3rd round? Certainly some interesting kids still out there.

A college arm that Jeremy mentioned, Ryan Prager from Texas A&M, would be a perfect fit for the Twins philosophy. He's 6' 3", 200 lbs, and is probably maxed out physically. But he's got control and a good change, solid slider and FB. If they could coach up a couple mph on his FB, he might be a steal. 

They might go one last bat in the third depending on what's left but I think the arms will outweigh the bats the rest of the way IMO.

I think they will have to come up with extra money to sign Hill. Not sure what they might have gotten under slot with the first two picks, but Hill will take more than 1M I would think.

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I'm wondering if the Twins saved a little $ on any of the first 3 picks to grab and sign another HS arm in the 3rd round? Certainly some interesting kids still out there.

A college arm that Jeremy mentioned, Ryan Prager from Texas A&M, would be a perfect fit for the Twins philosophy. He's 6' 3", 200 lbs, and is probably maxed out physically. But he's got control and a good change, solid slider and FB. If they could coach up a couple mph on his FB, he might be a steal. 

I hope that's the plan too, or at least a possible end result. Give us more arms!

[2wins87]

8 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

I think this was their best pick although they've really struggled developing pitchers so, who knows. But this is the type of arm they should be glad to get into the system.

They mostly just haven't drafted pitchers high, and the ones they have have mostly been injured or traded.

Soto and Hill could be a good test of how well they can actually do with sort of a "moldable clay" pitching prospect.

[Trov]

Prep pitchers are roll of the dice.  Even the top guys burn out in a few years.  I got no issue with taking one, but do not expect much from him for about 4 to 5 years. 

[Fatbat]

9 hours ago, SotaSports in NM said:

At the MLB level, that's fair. To date it's been Ober, SWR, and Varland to an extent. But the development of upcoming depth in the minors hasn't been a struggle in a last few years. Of course, MLB pitcher development is all that matters.

But wait. At the MLB level, Ryan was almost strickly a fastball pitcher when he arrived. He and the Twins have developed 2 more pitches since arriving and not doing the east side shuffle across the river.  We need to draft more high pedigree hurlers.  Chase Petty would have developed here just fine but we got Sonny G for a couple years and now a SS in the system from his comp pick.  A very nice trade btw that may payoff for years.  

[Fatbat]

I love this pick. We need a big lefty that throws smoke. In 3-4 years Hill and Soto will be in AAA and we will be begging for them to be called up. Our bonus pool $$$ is plenty big to sign hill and possibly another hs arm in round 4 but another 6-8 straight picks of college arms and a catcher would be just fine!

[KBJ1]

What's not to love!? Now we just have to sign him!

[Doctor Gast]

12 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Yep. But still have to grab a couple position players, just to fill rosters and hope to strike gold. There's a catcher or two that have my eye.

I'm wondering if the Twins saved a little $ on any of the first 3 picks to grab and sign another HS arm in the 3rd round? Certainly some interesting kids still out there.

A college arm that Jeremy mentioned, Ryan Prager from Texas A&M, would be a perfect fit for the Twins philosophy. He's 6' 3", 200 lbs, and is probably maxed out physically. But he's got control and a good change, solid slider and FB. If they could coach up a couple mph on his FB, he might be a steal. 

I'm curious Doc, which catchers do you have an eye on? Are they hidden gems?

[Doctor Gast]

IMO it was a good nite. Hill seems like a steal, got him at the right time. I have faith that the Twins can make him into a decent SP.

[DocBauer]

53 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I'm curious Doc, which catchers do you have an eye on? Are they hidden gems?

Ever since he was mentioned on a fairly recent podcast I've had my eye on Ryan Campos. He's not the biggest guy in the world, and the power might not be great, but he's got a good hit tool, makes contact, takes walks, and is a LH hitter. Reportedly high IQ, good instincts, good makeup. I think you take all of that and develop the defense like you did with Jeffers and end up with a better than average hitter as a backstop. 

I think Josh Caron might be a late developer as a hitter with some power and a good arm. 

Ryan Stafford from Cal Poly might be interesting. He's kinda small for a catcher, and it's doubtful he evr develops a lot of power. But he's got some natural hit ability, performed well in the Cape Cod league, and has a solid arm and better than average athleticism for a catcher. The Twins are obviously pretty familiar with Cal Poly these days.

I don't think any of these guys have been selected yet. Gut feeling is Campos has the most upside. I like smart catchers who can HIT and decent skills behind the plate and then develop them. I'd rather have solid defense and a good bat rather than a poor bat and great defense.

[Doctor Gast]

27 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Ever since he was mentioned on a fairly recent podcast I've had my eye on Ryan Campos. He's not the biggest guy in the world, and the power might not be great, but he's got a good hit tool, makes contact, takes walks, and is a LH hitter. Reportedly high IQ, good instincts, good makeup. I think you take all of that and develop the defense like you did with Jeffers and end up with a better than average hitter as a backstop. 

I think Josh Caron might be a late developer as a hitter with some power and a good arm. 

Ryan Stafford from Cal Poly might be interesting. He's kinda small for a catcher, and it's doubtful he evr develops a lot of power. But he's got some natural hit ability, performed well in the Cape Cod league, and has a solid arm and better than average athleticism for a catcher. The Twins are obviously pretty familiar with Cal Poly these days.

I don't think any of these guys have been selected yet. Gut feeling is Campos has the most upside. I like smart catchers who can HIT and decent skills behind the plate and then develop them. I'd rather have solid defense and a good bat rather than a poor bat and great defense.

Thanks, Campos sounds good, IMO LHH is a premium. My main concern is if he has an arm.

[jmlease1]

Looks like a very solid pick. I don't mind rolling the dice on a high school pitcher, you just can't put all your eggs in the basket. Twins have been careful to not load up too much on HS players recently, and seem to be pretty judicious about when they go that way. Hopefully it works out, but there's a lot to like about how this kid could project and there are definitely traits in him that they've had success in building on before. But high school pitchers will need time, so gotta be patient here.

I certainly don't mind some investment in a LHP prospect.

[madtowntwin]

I know, I know....I dream big, but what were Chris Sales measurables  when drafted??

[DJL44]

MLB.com said he's the best prep lefty from Texas since Kyle Muller. That sounds great, except Muller is just now having his first productive season at age 26. That's the problem with high school players. By the time they're good they've used up all of their options.