Seth's Preliminary Top 50 Twins Prospects: Part 7 (6-10)

Players eligible to be on this list include players who remain eligible for Rookie of the Year voting in 2017. That is to say, hitters with less than 130 at-bats and pitchers with less than 50 innings. (The list is preliminary. Following research for the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2017 - which Cody Christie, Jeremy Nygaard and I are working on - I’ll provide my final Top 30 prospects list.)

Top Prospects 6-10

#10 – Kohl Stewart - 21 – RHP – Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts

I list Stewart at 21 years of age, but on Friday he will turn 22. The Twins top pick in the 2013 draft (fourth overall), Stewart has certainly pitched well despite a glaring lack of strikeouts. In 2015, he posted a 3.20 ERA in Ft. Myers. In 143.2 innings, he walked 63 (3.1 K/9) but struck out just 91 (4.9 K/9). Because of it, he remained in Ft. Myers for nine starts at the beginning of the 2016 season. He went 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 51.2 innings. He walked 19 (3.3 K/9) and struck out 44 (a solid 7.7 K/9). He moved up to Chattanooga and certainly experienced some ups and downs. He went 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA in 16 starts. However, in 92 innings, he walked 44 (4.3 BB/9) and struck out just 47 (4.6 K/9). It remains confusing as Stewart has good stuff. He’s got a fastball that reached to 94-95. He’s got a good slider. He’s got a good change-up. He needs to be more consistent with them, but the stuff is good. The Twins have certainly pushed Stewart along quickly relative to his league dominance. Talking to scouts, you’ll get two very different beliefs in what his ceiling is and likelihood to get there. But if a 21-year-old posts a 3.03 ERA in the AA Southern League despite the lack of strikeouts, he needs to remain in top prospect discussions.

#9 – Adalberto Mejia - 23 – LHP – Rochester Red Wings/Minnesota Twins

Mejia was signed by the Giants in 2010. He gradually moved his way up the ladder. Following a strong 2014 season, Baseball Prospectus named him the #86 prospect in baseball. Unfortunately, he was suspended 50 games for PEDs. Upon his return, he threw 51.1 innings in AA Richmond, 31 innings in the Arizona Fall League and 18 more innings in the Dominican Winter League. 100 innings total. That’s why the Twins shut him down in early September at 134.1 innings this year. His season began in AA Richmond where he posted a 1.94 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 11 starts. He went 4-1 in AAA Sacramento. Baseball America put him near the bottom of their midseason Top 100 list. On July 28, the Twins acquired him from the Giants in exchange for Eduardo Nunez. He made four starts in Rochester, and he was called up for one day to the Twins. He gave up two runs in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. Overall in 2016, he walked just 2.0 per nine innings. The lefty struck out a very solid 8.6 per nine innings. At 6-3, he weighs about 220 pounds. He works in the 91 to 93 mph range and is capable of hitting 94. He’s got a good change-up in the low-to-mid 90s. He also has a good slider in the mid-80s. A left-hander who is just 23 and has three potential above-average pitches who has had some AAA success, Mejia could factor into the Twins starting rotation at some point in the 2017 season.

#8 – Wander Javier - 17 – SS – DSL Twins

On July 2, 2015, the Twins signed Javier to a $4 million signing bonus. It covered their entire allotment for the international signing period. Javier looks the part of a shortstop. He’s 6-0 and 175 pounds. He is a good athlete with very good speed. He has a big arm and a generally good feel for the position. He has a lot of power potential as well. The one concern about him offensively appears to be his ability to square up the ball at times. He began his playing career this season in the Dominican Summer League. The plan was for him to spend the full season there. He got off to a good start. Unfortunately, after seven games he pulled his hamstring. He missed 16 games before he came back in late June. In his second game back, he re-aggravated the same injury and missed the rest of the season. It was good to see that he did come to Ft. Myers to participate in the Instructional League. He didn’t play much, but he was a full participant most of the time in practices. He’ll most likely come to the States in 2017 for extended spring training and play for the GCL Twins. He (and this ranking) are based solely on ceiling, potential and upside, but his road to the big leagues will take time. If the Twins rush him, he could be in the big leagues in 2020, but that would be very aggressive.

#7 – Travis Blankenhorn - 20 – 2B – Elizabethton Twins/Cedar Rapids Kernels

Blankenhorn was the Twins third-round pick in 2015 out of high school in Pennsylvania. He split the 2015 short-season between the GCL (14 games) and Elizabethton (39 games). In spring training, he was moved from third base to second base. He was also struggling with the bat early in the year too, so he stayed in extended spring training. He returned to Tennessee for the start of the Elizabethton season. In 34 games, he hit .297/.342/.558 (.900) with seven doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 29 RBI. He moved up to Cedar Rapids where he hit .286/.356/.418 (.774) with five doubles, two triples and a homer in 25 games. He did a nice job for the Kernels in the playoffs as well, hitting .350. Defense is where the question marks are for Blankenhorn. He did a solid job at second base, though his range is lacking in large part due to needing more reps. Of the 40 total games he didn’t DH, he played second base in 37 of them, with three games played at third base. Blankenhorn is a good athlete, and he is very strong. He has slightly above average speed. He won’t turn 21 until next August.

#6 – Lewin Diaz - 19 – 1B – Elizabethton Twins

Diaz was the Twins big international free agent signing in the 2013 international signing period. That can be taken two ways. He signed a big signing bonus for $1.4 million. At 6-3, 260 pounds, he is a rather big man. At the time, his body type was compared to that of David Ortiz and Ryan Howard. So, while he played some in the outfield as a 14-15 year old, he was destined for a career at first base and maybe DH. He began his career with a summer in the DSL. In 2015, he came to the States and split time between the GCL and Elizabethton. In 33 games in the GCL, he hit .261/.354/.369 (.724) with seven doubles, a triple and a home run. He moved up to Elizabethton for the final 14 games. He hit just .167, but three of his eight hits were home runs. In 2016, he busted out. In 46 games in Elizabethon, he hit .310/.353/.575 (.928) with 15 doubles, two triples and nine home runs. Obviously his ceiling would involve hitting a lot of home runs, but he is more than just a power hitter with the bat. He could potentially hit for average as well. If things come together well for him, he could become an elite hitter.

So there you have it, my choices for Twins prospects 6-10. We’ll be back tomorrow with Part 8, the Top Five Prospects of the Minnesota Twins.

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