Dman

I tend to agree I think the position players at the top just look too strong to pass up other than maybe Skenes. I am torn on who the Twins should grab at 5 as Clark and Teel are both up the middle players with potentially good bats. Everyone seems to think Jenkins is going to hit and hit for power possibly at a Crews\Langford level so that would be tough to pass up as well. I just don't know who the best pick at 5 is anymore between potentially Jenkins, Clark, Teel and Dollander. I still think I like Clark best as having elite speed in center is a big deal and it hard to find guys that can run really fast and hit. There is still controversy on the boards with Teel looking to go in the teens and on Mock has him going number 4 to the Rangers. I guess it depends on how you feel about the bat and if he will stay behind the plate to take him at number 5. The system is short on catchers and we have no catchers even in the top 30 prospects at least not yet. There are some that question Teel's bat so that makes me less certain. If he can hit all the way up catchers that can hit at the MLB level are hard to find. It is just that catchers tend to get injured and their development is slower than most positions so not sure I love the risk level there but if the Twins think he is the best pick at number 5 I wouldn't be too disappointed. Dollander has some really rare pitching skills and he throws hard. He isn't having a great year but when there are writeups that compare him as one of the better arms that has been seen in quite a while it is hard to just pass on someone like that. Like you I have my concerns taking pitchers high in the draft as arms break down frequently and sometimes they don't make it back. Still Dollander has some unique attribute worthy of consideration at number 5 so I could understand if the Twins took on that risk. Still I think they play it safe and go position player at number 5. My pick is still Clark at 5 if he is there. While the Twins have several young outfielders on the way up they don't have anyone with elite speed for center. 5 tool players are hard to find and he can be a 5 tool player with power likely the only skill lacking. The Twins are going to need to do their homework. I just hope they grab the right guy at number 5.

It is going to be tough to beat Cole but having two guys in the top five right now is something I don't think my brain can handle. I am not used to having one top of line starter let alone two. The season is long so hard to say what will happen but I assume both Gray and Ryan will regress some and others will move higher up the chain. I am just happy we have a strong rotation this year.

Kalai Rosario creeping toward the .300 mark for batting average. Only 20 years old and performing well at High A he is looking like he could be a fast mover. He turns 21 in July and I wonder if he can get promoted to AA around that time. He would be young for the level but it would be nice to have a strong right handed outfield bat close to ready. He looked good this spring against MLB or near ready MLB pitchers so it seems like he has figured some things out. Severino continues to hit. Would be nice to see a few more walks but I guess when the hits are there swinging away works as well. Hoping the bat stays hot. Enlow was amazing. I have to say I was worried after last year and even more worried when they took him off the 40 man. Still early but the signs are encouraging that he still can be a starter or long reliever at the MLB level. Hoping he just gets stronger as the year goes on. Wallner with a nice game at the plate. When he is on he is on. I still like the bat but he has let K rate rise again and like Rooker until that is under control I just don't see it translating to MLB. Hopefully that gets better as the year goes on.

Totally agree with you. Guys will stop swinging at stuff out of the zone once they better figure out the pitch mix. Still this article seems to indicate he is likely to continue to be good.

I watched Cano all the way up and he seemed good but not great. I am shocked at how well he is doing this year. Not shocked that he is good but All-Star worthy? I never would have predicted that ever for him. His minor league stats were good but I didn't really see dominance there. So far it looks like I was very wrong. At the time I was fine with him as a throw in for the supposedly superior Lopez. Now that Cano is as good or better than Lopez and Povich is K'ing almost everyone he faces this trade hurts my stomach. I didn't like losing Povich in the deal to begin with but at the time we really needed another dominant relief arm so figured the cost is the cost but with both players working out extremely well for the O's this trade looks lopsided to me. For a FO that doesn't believe in investing in relievers they sure have paid a high price for a mediocre pen.

It seems like our relievers lack confidence in big time situations. Lopez walking in the winning run, Pagan walking guys when put in high leverage situations. It is like he is ready to crap his pants when in a tough situation. The whole pen has been walking too many guys this year and it has hurt them in the end. Jax is walking too many guys. Moran is walking too many guys. Trust your stuff guys. Either you have it or you don't at least make them earn their way on. The thing I really don't like about Pagan is his penchant for giving up the long ball after uncompetively walking guys. He comes out and can't throw strikes? I mean doesn't he work on that on a daily basis? Hard for me to see him as a pro some games especially in high leverage. Having said all that who do we really have other than wasting Headrick as a reliever that will be much better than Pagan? Winder was brutal when up. Henriquez isn't ready. I don't trust Schulfer. I don't like Sands and we have suffered with him already. Dobnak wouldn't be any better. Balazovich isn't ready as he was a head case just last year and can have control issues as well. There just isn't anything much better than Pagan at the moment that I can see. Pagan has been fine in most low leverage opportunities this year I think the lesson learned is do not at all costs put him in high leverage situations he mentally just can't handle it.

Nice to see Miranda with a couple of hits. At least it is a start toward contact. Mark Contreras is on a mission. He might be the best hitter on that team. He is taking really good at bats. It is too bad some of these guys just get stuck at AAA with very little chance at the MLB level. On the other hand Wallner looked horrible at the plate last night. I caught a couple of his at bats on MiLB TV and he looked like he was just guessing as he swung at stuff way outside the zone and struck out 4 times in 4 at bats. Just brutal IMO. Still he does have the highest OPS on the team right now so maybe just an off night but he was tough to watch. Fajardo is one tough out as his K rate is in the teens and his walk rate around 10% on average. He puts the ball in play. Still I can see why Pittsburgh gave up on him as he is mainly a singles hitter and his BA the last two years at high A was only .260. He isn't young for the level at 24 and BABIP is currently a high .380 but if the slugging improves some he is a legit utility option. Unless the slugging improves I don't see him being rule V protected but he is an excellent bat to have in the system. My guy Ohl with a tough night. I wonder sometimes if he needs to be less aggressive in the zone but I have to say the other part of me loves how he goes after hitters and challenges them in the zone. Maybe the pitches just weren't working as well last night hard to say but I still have my eye on him as I like his style. He would never be a guy that would walk in the winning run in a game as he knows how to hit his spots. Not a ton of great performances last night but today is another day to go out there and improve. I will be watching.

I do think Lee will be the answer at 3rd in the end but that might be mid 2024 or 2025 depending on how he progresses and or team injuries. Miranda can play 3rd as well I just don't think it will be long term and he needs to get that bat going again or he won't be there at all. While Correa has short Lewis is super utility so he can play infield or outfield. I think he will be the one to spell Correa at short. He could play second. He could play pretty much anywhere they need him play so I don't see third as Lewis's long term home but it could be if that is where he fits best. I don't see Jullien at 3rd as he doesn't have a real strong arm and isn't a great fielder as it is. Maybe in a pinch but nothing close to holding down third. I don't see Correa playing third anytime soon unless injury or his defense takes a huge turn but yeah sure someday he will end up there.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Dylan Neuse> I know he is old for the level and likely lack a power stroke but he has a .300 BA and is walking about the same amount as he is K'ing. He is a tiny guy as I got to see him in Beloit but he is off to nice start. These are far and away his best numbers as a pro. Jorel Ortega is looking like he might be a special bat. Hitting for average and power with nice walk and K rates. Hopefully some of these really good performers at A ball get moved up in June. There must be complex guys who can replace them but it would be nice to see these guys get greater challenges sooner rather than later. Happy to see Macleod getting on track. I always felt he was a good pick where the Twins got him. Since they traded away their top 3 pitcher picks from 2021 it sure would be nice if Macleod worked out well. Nice to see the affiliates winning some games and hopefully once the short season teams start we will get to see how well the younger guys on the top 30 are doing as well. Gotta keep that pipeline moving.

Like others have said Solano is here until Lewis returns. If there is another injury he could last past that but once Lewis is back it just seems hard to justify having him on the 26 man. Who knows if he heats up a little maybe the Twins will trade him for a marginal return. I think he has been pretty much what he has been in the past and was supposed to be for the Twins. Everyone gets in slumps IMO his main issue is he has no power and doesn't play a great 1st base either. He gets on base though and has a .340 OBP right now which isn't great but isn't horrible either. It feels like he is here until at least June no matter what.

I am on the hype train but there is a reason the MLB.com site doesn't even list Severino in Minnesota's top 30 prospects. He is aggressive at the plate and that only plays so far up the ladder. His K rate as well as hot and cold streaks and injuries have kept him off the top prospect lists so there is work to be done. Still the end of last year and the beginning of this year he sure has been barreling up the ball with frequency so maybe he can sustain this to a degree. However, he is gonna need to learn to work counts or he will get taken advantage of at the MLB level. Severino always had a good power profile and now it is being realized. I hope this is his breakout year and he makes his way up the ladder,.

I know Rodriguez is a marginal player but like Atlanta I think he has potential to make a difference especially in the pen. He might not be elite but he was a steady performer. I assume that appealed to Atlanta and that is good for Derek as he should get more chances to prove himself there than with the Twins. Can't argue with Severino for hitter of the week. Those are just crazy numbers. He comes up ready to hit the ball hard, I am just not used to him connecting this much. Hopefully this is his breakout year. Can't argue with pitcher of the week either. Tampa doesn't seem like a strong hitting team but a no hitter is a no hitter and Lewis and his knuckle ball seems to really confuse the hitters especially for strike three. Guys are starting to heat up. Hoping to see more breakouts as the season moves on.

He has to perform but Lewis still could be the right pick at number 1. If he remains injury prone then not so much. Right now Green looks pretty good though. Lewis might have to be All Star caliber to beat Green out unless Green's arm does not hold up. I never liked the Rooker pick as he was older with just the one great college season. I wanted a pitcher there. Looks like maybe he will end up being what the Twins thought he might be just too late for the Twins. I never knew anything about Leach other than he was helium pick. Wasn't thrilled with that one as I wanted the Minnesota pitcher there but I don't think Sam Carlson has worked out any better than Leach. I really liked the Enlow pick at the time. Still not sure if Enlow is gonna make it or not but I did like the pick based on potential. I never gave Ober a chance to be this good. I thought maybe a reliever tops but he turned out to be far better than I could have imagined for a 12th round pick. Looks like Varland might follow in his footsteps as a day three pick that can start. Bechtold was always going to be about the bat and he is getting closer but he is running out of time to get there. It was a good risk reward pick there IMO. I also liked De la Torre but he never could hit at all. Total guess swing on every pitch. Excellent in the field just too bad he couldn't hit much at all really.

I like OBP best as the name of the game on offense is not making outs. If you are not making an out you are contributing to the offense. You are putting pressure on the pitcher and give the next man up a chance to do the same. Doesn't matter if it is a walk, single or HR the bottom line is that it isn't an out. As this article points out slugging is important as well because doubles, triples and HR's either put runners in scoring position or score runs if anyone else is on base. OPS really is kind of king right now and as the OP pointed out it doesn't really matter how you get there OPS tells a more complete story where offensive contribution is concerned. Personally I like both the Arraez and Gallo approaches as teams have been built with high average and power strokes for ages. There is a reason why your teams HR king bats 4th. Both types of hitters are important IMO but I do feel the OP is correct that batting average doesn't give you a very complete picture of the true value a player has as it eliminates slugging completely. OPS is the only way to combine the three aspects to gain a more complete picture. Still not perfect but far, far better than batting average.

Amazing that that the Fort Meyers pitchers walked no one the entire game. I think that stands out to me more than anything. They only K'd 9 guys so the ball was in play a fair bit but Tampa couldn't buy a hit. Interesting that our hitters K'd 13 times but also walked 7 times so they were working counts but could not manage an extra base hit just singles. Hard fought game on both sides but a no hitter pretty much trumps everything in baseball unless you give up walks and or have a huge error there is no way to score runs. The top of that lineup with Ortega, Shuffiled and Cossetti has to be tough for opposing teams. Although they did leave a lot of men on base in clutch situations this time out. Some nice bats that need to move up the end of this month for sure.

I think you have a good point for top 10. You look at Wallners stats and Severino's and they appear to be similar players at the plate. Both pretty aggressive with K rates around 30% and walk rates around 10%. Both can hit home runs and hit the ball hard. Wallner is rated number 7 on the MLB site and Severino doesn't even make the list. Yet Severino had a better walk rate, K rate and similar OPS to Wallner and to top it off he is younger than Wallner and a switch hitter as well. I think he is under rated right now and will probably continue to be until he proves it for another half year at Double A. Still, given his stats have been pretty steady the past 3 years I don't think top 10 is out of the question right now. He doesn't stack up to Jullien quite as well from a plate discipline perspective but his power is equal to Julliens and his defense likely a little better although both are not real strong fielders IIRC. At any rate if he keeps this up I think the Twins will need to find room for him. A switch hitter with that kind of power is just too good to lose to Rule V. Not sure where he fits on the MLB team but they need to hang onto him.

Yeah I am hoping they somewhat repeat the 2021 draft by taking pitching high and low in the draft. Granted 1st round pick is likely a position player this year but then swap comp pick for pitcher throw in a position player that maybe has fallen and keep picking arms as the system needs more of them after trading away most the 2021 top end pitchers.

Larnach did it all last night. Hitting, walking, defense. That bump form AAA to MLB is a doozy so hopefully he just gets his confidence back and is ready when his next opportunity arrives. I think De Andrade is passing Miller for me. De Andrade's hit tool looks better and I believe he can be solid at short as well. Miller seems to be falling into the same funk as last year. Should be good competition between those two. Don't know much about Aria but hoping the Twins found another good arm.

Man Farmer has some guts. I just don't think I would be the same hitter after taking a pitch to the face. He just seems fearless in the box coming back. If I were him I would have taken more time but he is proving he is ready to go. He certainly has my admiration. I have liked everything about this guy.

Really happy to see Carlos come up with the big hit in a big spot. That hit was the game winner. Hopefully he gets hot and stays hot.

I'm not ready to give up on him just yet but it feels like a lot of hitters have been swinging outside the zone and struggling with just basic contact. You would like to think he should have some answers there. I would wait longer as the weather is warming up hopefully the bats do the same.

1) Royce Lewis 2) Emmanual Rodriguez 3) Brooks Lee 4) Edoyard Jullien 5) Louie Varland 6) Connor Prielipp 7) Matt Wallner 8) Marco Raya 9) Brent Headrick 10) Simeon Woods Richardson 11) Jordan Balazovic 12) David Festa 13) Ben Ross 14) Noah Miller 15) Danny De Andrade 16) Austin Martin 17) Yassar Mercedes 18) Ronny Henriquez 19) Jose Salas 20) Jose Rodiriguez

Man, Helman has started with a bang. If he keeps on getting those extra base hits the Twins are going to have to find room on the 40 man. With only a 13% K rate and 11% walk rate he is starting to look a bit like Spencer Steer, a very well rounded hitter. Like Steer he just needed to add a little more pop to the bat and I think he has shown that last year and so far this year but in a SSS. Just needs to keep it going and he should get his shot. Ortega with a really nice night as well. hard to go 4 for 4 and he is one of the few guys batting .300 in A ball. Cossetti has cooled down quite a bit but catchers have it tough especially as the season wears on. Happy to see Cruz back in A ball and hoping this year is better than last year for him. He has the tools just needs to up the contact. Lot's of good hitting and some solid pitching for a change. Here is hoping guys are starting to catch fire.,

I have been a big believer after last years numbers solidified he was a very good pitcher. You look at his number versus Varland's in the same league and there is not all that much difference. Not sure why he was so under the radar but he looks like he can be a good lefty arm that can help. I still think he can start but maybe the fastball just doesn't play up enough? Given the success he has had so far he seems like a lock for the pen. Hoping he is another piece of the piuzzle\solution for the Twins.

I really like the new format for the weekly summary. Very thorough and full of good information on the ups and downs of the players. To be honest there are quite a few guys I am disappointed in. Guys like Urbina and Cavaco who I thought would have a chance at redemption for past struggles are still struggling. Guys like Prato and Isola who haven't been as good as they were last year. There are several others that could be named but those are the main ones for me. Still time to catch fire but time is running out for some of these guys. Hard for me to argue with the picks of the week but I have been impressed with Ohl and Rosario. Both could be breakout candidates this year. Still a long way to go. Hoping for more success stories early on but the sometimes it takes until the second half of the season to see major improvement from some players. The system is pretty week on pitching especially at the AA level so not surprised they are having a down year.