Brandon Winokur Made It to Double-A. What's Next?

[jaimedude]

They should jump him to St Paul, move Culpepper to second base, see if this will be our 2028 infield early. 

[tony&rodney]

Winokur is a terrific athlete. The long limbs and arms make him look goofy when he plays. The reason the Twins keep using him at shortstop is because they want to keep him in play across all positions. I have probably watched him play 50 times or more. There have been tough days, especially a few times last year in Cedar Rapids, but Winokur has a very good glove and a rocket arm. He is not the shortstop that Marek Houston is and nobody should confuse the two at that position. However, I have seen Winokur make a couple of plays that Houston could never make due to physical traits, both fielding and throws. People should forget the idea of pushing Winokur to one position. He can play defense.

The issue for Brandon Winokur concerns his levers and hitting a baseball. There has been steady improvement, but also some down periods as well. No doubt, frustration is a part of following Winokur both for his coaches and the fans. I'm sure the player would like to rocket through all of the progressions and bea Twin sooner rather than later. The final steps may not come but those who bet against superior athletic talent are often wrong. Winokur is on the slow rise. He has improved and there may be three years left before he manages to reach the MLB level. 

Finally, I understand that most people cannot watch a ton of minor league baseball but I do wonder if some of those who make strong definitive statements have seen the minor league guys play and how many times they watched each player. I'm not talking about stats or videos, I'm wondering about watching the games. I get the reflex thoughts and opinions, and those seem natural. I just wonder how people can be so definitive and firm on their opinions when they have not seen a player dozens of times. I was part of various aspects of the game for half a century and find myself hedging on a consistent basis.

Winokur has time to develop. My opinion is that it is too early to place a bet either one way or the other. He is fun to watch though. 

[Fatbat]

8 hours ago, bean5302 said:

If athleticism, strength and work ethic was all that was important for players, we wouldn't see 95% of draft picks wash out without making an impact at the MLB level.

 

Well that’s an obvious statement….