Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month - June 2024

The minor-league season can become a grind for players, who spend a large chunk of the year away from their families in smaller towns scattered across the country. Some players from the organization will be traded before the end of July, while others will lose roster spots to newly drafted players. June is a month to showcase what a player can mean to an organization. There were strong offensive performances up and down the farm system during June, which made selecting one hitter more difficult. Here are a handful of honorable mentions, before exploring the details of Twins Daily’s top pick.

Honorable Mention #3: Nate Baez, Cedar Rapids Kernels
20 G, 19-62 (.307 BA), 4 2B, 6 HR, 15 RBI, 1.075 OPS
Baez might be an unfamiliar name compared to some others on this list, but the 2022 12th-round pick has been key to the Kernels lineup. He’s hit over .300 in each of the last two months while also being among the team leaders in multiple offensive categories. His 1.075 OPS for the month ranks highly among the hitters in the organization, but he gets less playing time since he plays regularly behind the plate. Baez has already set career highs in home runs and RBI. Only Ricardo Olivar has more home runs in a Kernels uniform this season. Baez is slightly older than the average age of the competition in the Midwest League, so the team could bump him up to Double-A in the season’s second half.

Honorable Mention #2: Brooks Lee, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/St. Paul Saints
21 G, 29-87 (.333 BA), 6 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 1.017 OPS
Lee began the year on the injured list with a herniated disc in his back, so there was some concern about how quickly he would be able to get back into form. He’s quickly put all those concerns behind him, showcasing a revamped swing from the right side. Lee is a switch-hitter, and last season he posted a .603 OPS from the right side which was over 250 points lower than when he batted left-handed. He worked on his right-handed swing this winter, and the results have been clear, as he has posted a 1.121 OPS with eight extra-base hits in 37 plate appearances. He’s knocking on the door to the big leagues. 

Honorable Mention #1: Yunior Severino, St. Paul Saints
23 G, 34-80 (.425 BA), 3 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 1.231 OPS
Severino started the season slowly with a .588 OPS in April, raising that by 129 points in May. However, he has been nearly impossible to get out during June. In the first 12 games of the month, he went 17-for-39 (.436 BA) with four home runs while getting on base over 59% of the time. He didn’t slow down much in the second half of the month, with a .415 BA and a 1.100 OPS in 11 games. Severino is on the 40-man roster, so it will be interesting to see if the Twins can find a use for him down the stretch. He should win this award, and in many other months, he would be the winner by a landslide. However, only one player can earn top honors.

Hitter of the Month – Matt Wallner, St. Paul Saints
26 G, 34-105 (.324 BA), 6 2B, 12 HR, 28 RBI, 1.127 OPS
Wallner is letting his bat do the talking, after a terrible start to the season at the big-league level. He started off on a tear when the calendar turned to June. In 14 games, he went 23-for-58 (.397 BA) with nine home runs, four doubles, and a 1.384 OPS. The Twins named him the organization’s Minor League Hitter of the Week (Jun. 1-7), as he posted a .591 ISO and a 242 wRC+. He followed that up by winning the International League Player of the Week for Jun. 10-16, after hitting .519 with five homers in six games.

Power hitters like Wallner have an element of streakiness baked into their performance because of their swing-and-miss tendency. In June, he showed the ability to hit for average and power while striking out in 27.7% of his plate appearances. His power numbers give him the award over the walks and lack of strikeouts from Severino. 

Should Wallner or Severino have taken the top spot? Leave your rankings in the COMMENTS and start the discussion.

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