Twins Short-Season Minor-League Pitcher of the Year - 2023

Yesterday, we named DSL Twins second baseman Dameury Pena the Twins Daily Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year. Today, we will discuss the pitchers in the two Twins Complex Leagues, the Florida Complex League and the Dominican Summer League. 

These seasons started in June. By the end of July, some of the 2023 draft picks began getting into some games. However, none of those 2023 draft picks pitched enough in the FCL to qualify for this award. The drafted college pitchers got into no more than two games in the FCL. Several, including the high school pitchers (Charlee Soto and Dylan Questad) didn’t pitch. 

Before getting into the 2023 crop of short-season pitchers, here are the previous recipients of this award:

2016: Huascar Ynoa
2017: Jovani Moran
2018: Andrew Cabezas
2019: Cody Lawyerson
2021: Samuel Perez
2022: Miguel Olivares 

The Twins and their fans truly saw the value of solid pitching in the big leagues this year. Pitcher development is crucial to that process and has been a focal point throughout the Derek Falvey Era. We have seen the type of pitchers drafted and signed have a different profile. We have seen those pitchers working with the best technology and working to add velocity. There were a lot of success stories throughout the organization, including a few in the lowest levels, the Complex Leagues. 

The Twins Daily minor league writers and video providers were asked to vote on these awards. Before getting into the top three, some others received votes.

Others Receiving Votes

• RHP Kyle Bischoff, 24, FCL Twins: 9 G, 5 GS, 3.18 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 22.2 IP, 15 H, 9 BB, 33 K
• RHP Eduardo Soriano, 20, DSL Twins-FCL Twins: 12 G, 7 GS, 3.67 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 25 H, 6 BB, 29 K

Short Season Pitcher of the Year

Here are the top three vote-getters for Twins Short Season Pitcher of the Year.

3. RHP Yency De Jesus, 21, DSL Twins
10 G, 4 GS, 4.24 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 40.1 IP, 30 H, 22 BB, 44 K
Not all DSL prospects sign when they are 16 or 17 years old. It’s a good reminder that players develop at different times and in different ways. While this may affect the player’s prospect status, it does not mean they cannot become a big leaguer. One example is Yency De Jesus. The 5-11 right-hander from Sabana Grande De Boya (Dominican Republic) signed with the Twins in late September 2022. He was already 20 years old. 2023 was his professional debut. He averaged four innings per outing, which is impressive for a guy who made just four starts. He walked too many but also struck out more than a batter per inning. In his 40 1/3 innings, he gave up 19 earned runs and 14 unearned runs. 

2. RHP Miguel Cordero, 17, DSL Twins
9 GS, 2.81 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 38 H, 18 BB, 46 K
Cordero is on the complete other side of the prospect spectrum. The Maracaibo, Venezuela, native signed on January 15 this year, just four months after his 16th birthday. He didn’t turn 17 until after the 2023 DSL season. In his second start of the season, he gave up just one hit and struck out six over four shutout innings. He had one walk and eight strikeouts over four scoreless, hitless innings in his next start. He earned his lone “Win” of the season in his fourth start when he completed five innings and gave up two runs. He gave up three earned runs in one of his nine starts. Just one. He was one of the youngest players in the league. He earned a spot on the DSL All-Star team. And he is easily the top pitching prospect from this 2023 DSL Twins team.   

1. RHP Juan Cota, 18, DSL Twins
10 G, 5 GS, 2.73 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 29.2 IP, 20 H, 7 BB, 30 K
The Twins signed Cota in September of 2022 out of Los Mochis, Mexico, the same town as teammate Jayson Bass. Cota turned 18 just days before the start of the DSL season. He made five starts during the season and came out of the bullpen five times. A glance at his numbers, and it’s easy to see why he would take this award this year. He gave up just 6.1 hits per nine innings. His walk rate was just 2.1 BB/9, and he struck out more than one batter per inning. Good control and the ability to miss bats and avoid hard contact are good characteristics for a pitcher. 

Listed at 6-1 and about 170 pounds, Cota is not a big guy. However, he is a good athlete and has some growth potential. He also has the kind of pitch mix and stuff that is very intriguing. At this point, his fastball sits right around 91 mph, but he gets very strong spin on the pitch. He also has a slider and a changeup that need to continue developing, but they show promise. Generally speaking, he has been able to fill up the strike zone. 

His potential will depend on growth. Will he get bigger and stronger and find a way to add three or four mph to his fastball? Can his second and third pitches continue to improve? Will he be able to develop a fourth pitch? If he does those things, he has the potential to be a big-league starter down the line. 

It was slim pickings in terms of solid pitching performances in the complex leagues this year, but these top three all have a chance to keep progressing with health, time, and development. While Miguel Cordero is by far the top pitching prospect among these young pitchers, for 2023, Juan Cota earned and deserved our choice for Twins Daily Short-Season Minor-League Pitcher of the Year. 

For more Twins Daily content on these players, click on the following links:
Juan Cota, Miguel Cordero, Yency de Jesus, Eduardo Soriano, Kyle Bischoff.

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!