Twins Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year– 2024

[Cody Christie]

Short-season leagues allow players to get their first taste of life as a professional baseball player. Here are the hitters in the Twins organization that had the strongest seasons for their short-season affiliates.

Not every prospect can find success in a short-season league. By their nature, short-season leagues are limited in what players can showcase because of the sample sizes involved in a limited number of games and at-bats. Sometimes, top prospects thrive in this environment, while others might start the year slow and not have time for their numbers to improve. Overall, some players clearly thrive against the level of competition in the low minors, and that can help raise their overall prospect stock. 

Before we get into the hitters that impressed this season, here are the previous winners of this award:
2016: Lewin Diaz
2017: Akil Baddoo
2018: Chris Williams
2019: Matt Wallner
2021: Kala'i Rosario
2022: Jose Rodriguez
2023: Dameury Pena

 

Before getting into this year’s top hitters, here are some of the other hitters who received votes from the Twins Daily minor league writers. 

Honorable Mentions

• C Ricardo Pena, FCL Twins, 33 G, .361/.481/.488 (.970), 8 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 18 BB, 21 K. 
• OF Merphy Hernandez, DSL Twins, 48 G, .276/.390/.417 (.806), 4 2B, 6 3B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 28 BB, 30 K, 36 SB. 
• C/1B Irvin Nunez, DSL Twins, 27 G, .299/.454/.508 (.961), 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 15 BB, 10 K.  
• 2B Dameury Pena, FCL Twins, 36 G, .282/.386/.410 (.796), 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 19 BB, 9 K. 

Short-Season Hitter of the Year
Here are the top three players for the Twins Daily Hitter of the Year, including a nearly unanimous choice for the Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year. 

3. SS Daiber De Los Santos, DSL Twins
40 G, 53-176, .301/.384/.460 (.844), 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 38 RBI, 18 BB, 63 K, 17-for-24 SB.
The Twins signed De Los Santos when the 2024 international signing period opened in January. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the number eight international prospect, and said he “might have the overall best raw tools in the class.” De Los Santos was able to showcase his tools during his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League. In June, he went 13-for-57 (.228 BA) in 17 games with two doubles and four home runs, the most homers he hit in any month. His OPS dipped by 104 points in July but he continued to get on base 35% of the time. He drew double-digit walks, which helped him to score 13 runs in the month. 

De Los Santos put an exclamation mark on his season during August. In 12 games, he hit .431/.482/.588 (1.070) with six doubles and one triple. His high OBP also let him be a menace on the bases. He went 8-for-10 in stolen base attempts to raise his season total to 16 steals. A significant amount of his damage came against left-handed pitchers, as his OPS versus lefties (1.193) was nearly 450 points higher than versus righties. All but 25 of his plate appearances came against older pitchers. He also showed the ability to come up big with two outs and runners in scoring position by posting a .934 OPS. He’s a long way from Target Field, but he is a teenage player to get excited about in the coming years. 

2. CF Yasser Mercedes, FCL Twins/Fort Myers
51 G, 56-169, .331/.421/.568 (.989), 18 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 24 BB, 39 K, 18-for-23 SB. 
The Twins signed Mercedes for $1.7 million during the 2022 international signing period, where he was considered one of the top available players. Last season, he dealt with a nagging shoulder injury, impacting his overall numbers in his first stateside season. He quickly put those injury concerns behind him in 2024 with a breakout performance in the FCL. In May, he hit .344/.432/.547 (.979) with seven extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases in 18 games. It was a solid start to his season that showcased his five-tool talent. 

In June (18 G), he continued to hit well by going 18-for-56 (.321 BA) with six doubles and two home runs. He punctuated his season in July with a 1.043 OPS in his final 15 games in the FCL. Even more impressive, he had nearly as many walks (7 BB) as strikeouts (9 K). The Twins promoted him to Fort Myers for his final ten games, where he went 5-for-40. As a right-handed hitter, his splits were nearly identical versus righties (.886 OPS) and lefties (.828 OPS). He also did similarly well against younger and older pitchers, with his OPS only being separated by less than 50 points. He was named a Florida Complex League All-Star in September. Mercedes should spend all of 2025 at a full-season affiliate for the first time in his career. 

1. OF Eduardo Beltre, DSL Twins
43 G, 47-144, .326/.453/.618 (1.071), 9 2B, 11 HR, 36 RBI, 28 BB, 43 K, 10-for-14 SB.
Like De Los Santos, Beltre was considered one of the top international prospects in the 2024 signing class. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the 39th overall prospect and said he is “a powerful athlete with an aggressive approach at the plate and could one day sport plus tools across the board.” His aggressive approach helped him to combine for 20 extra-base hits in 43 games, but it came at the cost of a 23.8 K%. Beltre’s bat started hot and didn’t cool off throughout the season. 

In June, he started the season by going 10-for-27 with three extra-base hits and a 1.182 OPS in ten games. His on-base numbers were helped by coaxing ten walks in 38 plate appearances. During July, Beltre hit .277/.422/.508 (.929) with three doubles and four home runs. His high on-base percentage allowed him to impact the game on the bases by going 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts. He destroyed the ball in the season’s final month. In 14 games, he hit five doubles and five home runs for a .691 SLG, his highest total in any month. It was an exclamation point on a tremendous 2024 campaign. 

He had 25 plate appearances versus younger pitchers this season and posted a 1.405 OPS. As a right-handed hitter, his splits versus lefties and righties were separated by 110 points, but both were over 1.000 OPS. Beltre finished tied for second in the DSL in home runs, and his OPS ranked third among qualified hitters. He was named a Dominican Summer League All-Star after the season. It was an exciting professional debut, and the Twins hope Beltre can continue to showcase his talent as he climbs the organizational ladder. 

Congratulations to this year’s winners. How would you rank these players on your ballot? Should a different player have made the top 3? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

View full article

[jmlease1]

Great beginning to his professional career by Beltre. I'm guessing he comes to the states to play in the FL Complex league next season? I think that would be a good step in his development: working with the Twins developmental staff more closely, access to the Ft. Myers complex, etc. It's basically the new version of rookie ball, right? Seems like a solid fit at 18.

Mercedes had an excellent season and in other years might have been the pick. Nice to have both. Some talented guys have won this award before.

[LambchoP]

Hopefully Beltre is for real, we can always use more power speed combo guys, gotta just keep him healthy.

[Trov]

I do not get too hyped on international kids in DSL short seasons.  So much can happen in their physical development. 

[bean5302]

Yasser Mercedes all the way for me. CPX results are way more important to me than DSL as I feel it's a substantially higher competition level. A 24% K rate in DSL is pretty concerning to me.

[DocBauer]

Pena on the list, once as a winner and now as an also ran is VERY much of interest.

Mercedes was a kid i watched closely all year. I even mentioned him once or twice in the offseason as part of a potential trade package to bring in someone. Guess I'm glad he's still ours!

The 24% K rate doesn't bother me at this point. Hitting Florida isn't easy, as history has often shown. If he can keep that %, or get a little better, with his tools he could vault up the prospect rankings. The BB and OB% outweighs the K% at this point, IMO. 

He keeps both about equal to this season, he's dangerous. But with all of these young kids, it's still a long way to MLB. But there's talent to get a little excited about for the future for sure.

[MinnInPa]

don't young American boys play baseball anymore ?? 

[DJL44]

47 minutes ago, MinnInPa said:

don't young American boys play baseball anymore ?? 

They generally go to college to play baseball. You're not going to see them playing in the Dominican league for teenagers.

[bean5302]

17 hours ago, DocBauer said:

...The 24% K rate doesn't bother me at this point. Hitting Florida isn't easy, as history has often shown...

Mercedes doesn't have a 24% K rate. Think it was like 21%?

I was talking about Beltre (who played in the DSL)