Seth Stohs

Last week we worked through Minnesota Twins prospects 31-50. This week, we will be continuing our look at the team’s top prospects. Today, we will look at my choices for prospects 26-30. Be sure to leave your thoughts and comments in the comment section below. Again, if you want to look into some of the things that go into my personal rankings, click on the previous parts of this series at the bottom of today’s group. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Part 5: 26-30 In this edition, we have a mix of prospect types. We have a big first baseman who put up some impressive counting numbers and even led minor league baseball in a statistic. He enters this range of prospects with four pitchers. One of the pitchers was a fast-mover while another has moved more slowly. The other two pitchers introduce us to the The Big Three who spent the whole season at Elizabethton this year. Once these guys get to a higher level, they could move up quickly… or, well, down quickly. That’s what makes these types of lists so much fun. #30 – Randy Rosario – LH SP (19) Rosario is a 6 foot tall skinny left-hander from the Dominican Republic. Just 19, he went 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA at Elizabethton this year. Blessed with a fastball in the 93 to 95 mph range, he also throws a slider and a change-up. From 2012 (GCL) to 2013 (APPY), he improved his BB/9 from 4.5 to 3.6. His season ended early with some shoulder discomfort, but he returned and pitched in the Instructional League. #29 – Dalton Hicks – 1B (23) At 6-5 and (listed at) 228 pounds, Hicks is a menacing figure in the left-handed batter’s box. The Twins 17th round pick in 2012 out of Central Florida, he has a long and powerful swing. He spent the first two-thirds of the season in Cedar Rapids and ended the year in Ft. Myers. In all, his 110 RBI led all minor league baseball, edging out Adam Walker. This year he hit 39 doubles and 17 home runs while hitting .289/.358/.468 (.826). #28 – Brett Lee – LH SP (23) Lee was the Twins 10th round pick in 2011 out of junior college. He made his pro debut by going 4-0 with a 2.68 ERA with E-Town in 2012 while pitching primarily out of the bullpen. He moved to the rotation in 2013 in Cedar Rapids and went 8-4 with a 2.95 ERA. The lefty has a good fastball with some deceptive movement. He’s got good offspeed pitches as well. His future may be in the bullpen, but he should continue to start for now. #27 – Yorman Landa – RH SP (19) Another 19-year-old from this year’s Elizabethton squad, Landa is a right-handed version of Randy Rosario. After going 1-3 with a 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings in the Gulf Coast League in 2012, he went 3-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 55 innings in 2013 with the E-Twins. He throws hard, though he’ll need to continue to reduce his walk rate. It improved in 2013 to 4.7 from 5.4 in 2012. #26 – DJ Baxendale – RH SP (22) What Baxendale did in the season’s first two months in Ft. Myers was remarkable. Considering the 2012 10th round pick was pushed right to the Miracle, he was my choice for Twins pitcher of the month in April and May when he went 7-0 with a 1.10 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP in nine starts. He was pushed to New Britain where he certainly struggled, going 5-7, 5.63 ERA, 1.42 WHIP in 16 starts. Baxendale has a good fastball that reaches into the low-90s with movement and a full four-pitch mix. He gets a ton of movement, in part, due to throwing from a three-quarter angle. So there you have it, Part 5 of my Top 50 Twins Prospect list. We'll be back tomorrow with Part 5, prospects 21-25. Part 1: 46-50 Part 2: 41-45 Part 3: 36-40 Part 4: 31-35

Today, we move on to Part 4 of the Minnesota Twins Top 50 Prospects. We'll look at the Twins prospects I ranked 31 through 35. The first three have brought some interesting discussions into the comments, and I suspect that as we move closer to the top of the list, discussions will continue to be terrific. If you click on the links to the previous pieces of this list at the bottom of this article, you can read some background into what I consider when making these lists. As always, feel free to discuss each of these players and the rankings of those discussed to this point. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Part 3: Prospects 36-40 In this group, there is an athletic on-base machine and four pitchers. As with those on the previous list, these pitchers have experienced some success, yet at this point can't be ranked any higher. Maybe it's a lack of strikeouts despite good pitches. Maybe the reason is strictly health-related. One made the move to the bullpen before the 2013 season while the other three could wind up there as well. All five are certainly worthy of interest and attention. #35 – Matt Summers – RH SP (24) Summers led the Florida State League in both ERA and WHIP in 2013. In 21 starts, he went 6-5. He also made five starts for New Britain in which he really struggled. The 2011 fourth-round pick struck out 6.3 per nine innings in 2013, which was actually an increase from 5.9 K/9 in 2012. He does throw hard, hitting 92-94 with a two-seam fastball and occasionally hitting 97. He’s got a sharp slider and a good slow curve ball, so I can’t explain the lack of strikeouts. #34 – Tyler Jones – RH RP (24) Jones was my choice for Twins minor league relief pitcher of the year in 2013. He averaged 11.4 K/9 between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He had been a starter in 2012 in Beloit, but he made the transition to the bullpen and it went well. Having a fastball that touches 98 mph certainly helps, but a much-improved slider helped also. Jones rededicated himself last offseason and got himself in tremendous shape which he credits with some of his success. He's definitely one to watch as he could move quickly. #33 – JD Williams – OF (23) Williams was the Twins 10th round pick in 2010 out of high school in Florida. He is a tremendous athlete who needed time to develop. In 2013, he started the season by repeating in the Midwest League. He needed to do it, and he showed great improvement. In 80 games with the Kernels, he hit .281 with an impressive .391 on base percentage. He has very good speed and increasing pop in his bat. He moved up to Ft. Myers where he got off to a fast start before slowing at the end of the year. #32 – Luke Bard – RH SP (22) Bard was the Twins supplemental 1st round pick in 2012 out of Georgia Tech. He has been hurt pretty much the whole time since. He rehabbed most of the 2013 season before making four appearances in the GCL. He made seven appearances in Elizabethton. He ended the season with one game pitched in Ft. Myers. He’s got the ability to be a solid big league starter or a good big league reliever, if he can get and stay healthy. #31 – Logan Darnell – LH SP (24) The Twins 6th round pick in 2010, he moved from Beloit to Ft. Myers to New Britain in 2011. He spent all of 2012 and began 2013 with the Rock Cats where he made 15 starts and went 6-6 with a 2.51 ERA. He was then promoted to Rochester where he made 11 more starts. The lefty pitched in the Arizona Fall League after the 2012 season and is well thought of. He can eat innings and has a solid four-pitch mix. He just doesn’t strike many out. So there you have it, Part 4 of my Top 50 Twins Prospect list. We'll be back Monday with Part 5, prospects 26-30. Part 1: 46-50 Part 2: 41-45 Part 3: 36-40