MN_ExPat

It was a quiet night---no wind to speak of.  Lee's oppo HR was impressive. As described, it really was just a flick of his wrists.  Ball carried at least 350 to clear the LF wall.  

Seth, Thank you for including the video of Royce Lewis making that impressive double play at 3B. Just an awesome play. Good report.

A couple of quick notes: 
1.) I just added a quote from Yoyner Fajardo. 
2.) Instead of posting a ton of twitter videos, I hyperlinked to them, so if there is an RBI mentioned or something and it's linked, click on it to see the video. 
3.) The first time each player's name is mentioned in the article, it links to the players' Baseball Reference page... For several players, I also linked to their Twins Daily search page. 

Thank you for the great report from the scene. They are always fun to read. Glad you got to see a fun game for the team and the prospects. 
I did meet Seth Gray's parents in Cedar Rapids early in the 2021 season. Really good people, down to earth. I've noticed that a lot with parents. They seem to be enjoying the experience, seeing their kids live out their dreams, hoping to take that dream all the way to the big leagues... They just seem to understand that their kid is very fortunate, how difficult the game can be, the ups and downs, and like all of us, love to see their kids experience success. 

Seth:  Thanks for another great report tonight.  Informative and detailed as usual.
Had the pleasure of witnessing the game in person as my spouse and I always enjoy making a short 3-hour drive from the KC area down to Springfield.
Great seeing the Surge bats consistently produce with RISP!  As impressive as the Wind Surge offensive attack was (barrage of 18 hits), I came away very impressed with the performance of Blayne Enlow.  As you noted, Enlow needed only 76 pitches (walking none!) to navigate 6 strong IP.  After escaping a 2 out jam in the 1st inning, Enlow retired the next 11 batters mixing his pitches and consistently working ahead in the count.  Hopefully, Enlow can stay healthy and continue to build on his strong start.
The final highlight of the evening was meeting the parents of Seth Gray, who had 3 hits including a ringing triple to left center leading off the 8th inning.  Extremely nice couple who are spending the week in Springfield following Seth.  They mentioned they've had the opportunity to meet you and spoke of you in good regards.  
After a rough (0-4) night at the dish last night, it was great seeing Brooks Lee go 2-4 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI.  His opposite field 2-run HR in the 3rd gave the Surge a 3-0 lead.  As impressive as Lee was with the bat he was flawless at SS with 5 assists.
 
 
 

Totally get that thought, but I would play Devil's Advocate and say after watching Dollander pitch last year... his stuff is legit.  I think the argument can be strongly made that Skenes is the better/more polished pitcher right now, but I still (IMHO) think the Twins wouldn't go wrong by picking Dollander at #5. 

I have a tough time with him slipping as far as he has.  OK, Skenes has surged ahead but 4 months ago he was the best prospect since Strasburg?  Like Lee last year he could be a bit of the forgotten man in the hype machine.  I wouldn't have a problem with taking him either.

Totally get that thought, but I would play Devil's Advocate and say after watching Dollander pitch last year... his stuff is legit.  I think the argument can be strongly made that Skenes is the better/more polished pitcher right now, but I still (IMHO) think the Twins wouldn't go wrong by picking Dollander at #5. 

Totally get that thought, but I would play Devil's Advocate and say after watching Dollander pitch last year... his stuff is legit.  I think the argument can be strongly made that Skenes is the better/more polished pitcher right now, but I still (IMHO) think the Twins wouldn't go wrong by picking Dollander at #5. 

This is the only Mock I found with Teel in the top 5 but the Rangers just might be the Team that pulls the trigger on Teel.  I don't know what Jenkins has going for him other than power but he sure seems to be high on most boards.  There certainly could be shakeups in the draft order but the Twins are set to get an elite player.  In this mock they do get Skenes.  Still I think in the end you are right that Teel could make the top 5.

Agreed, especially because he seems to be relatively athletic and versatile. From what I've read it seems he doesn't 100% have a defensive home (3B/RF most likely) but that it has more to do with him being good in multiple places versus trying to hide him (ala Miranda, Julien, CES, etc). Definitely wouldn't be mad if they pulled the trigger in R2.

I personally would love Bradfield.  Was reading Kiley McDaniel this morning, and he graded Bradfield as 80 run, 80 baserunning, 70/80 glove in CF, plus hit and plus pitch recognition.  Since it's starting to look like Buxton's days in CF might be done for good, taking an SEC guy (read--can make the bigs in 2025/2026) that can tableset and provide elite defense in CF makes an awful lot of sense to me.

Seen quite a few threads on Dollander that suggest his issues are more mechanical than anything else. I'm anti-pitching with a top 5 pick in general unless it's a truly outstanding prospect, and i think only Skenes fits that bill.

Great point about the comp pick and I love the targets you picked out. I think Davis will be a top 15 pick but the ones you mention are great 'Twinsy' profiles.

I think Teel is going to make it a top 6 when it's all said and done. The bar for producing value is so much lower there and the fact that he can run too (doesn't steal a lot but is fast) adds more. I'm expecting chaos when we finally get to July. This time last year, we were all talking about how one of the consensus top 6 wouldn't get to the Twins and they ended up with a choice of Lee, Parada, or Collier lol

Yeah I really wanted Turner as well.  I assume they didn't think his power projection was good enough?  And he had been injured a bit IIRC. I was a huge Turner Fan as well.  He was my dream pick for them in that draft as I wasn't into the power\slugging aspects of the game back then. His ability to play short get on base and steal bases was what I wanted to see but alas I guess they felt maybe more upside in the end with Gordon and that turned out poorly.
I also was hoping Rodon would fall in that draft but he didn't.  I wasn't a fan of Nola and he worked really well as a down the line pick.  It is easy to get fooled in the draft and we only get bits of info so hard to make decisions on the little blurbs we do get.  
To your point I have been more comfortable with the College picks at least early on but I can see where high school picks can provide superior value later in the draft when a lot of the elite college players are off the board.  Still looking at Holliday from last year which I thought might be a reach and he is killing it so projection at the HS level can be done but I still agree with you that it is riskier. 

I wanted Turner so much in that draft....oh well.....
I have no idea what's up with Dollander, obviously, but he was projected 1:1, and now is around 1:7....it's not like he's REALLY fallen, just fallen, if you know what I mean.
I also get these two HS players stand out.....I'd be good with any of the top 5-10 at this point, I think. 

I Agree High Schoolers are tougher to predict as the level of competition varies and Pro Ball is a different game.  Still there are those that standout and work out.  Projection is also tougher.  Look at Nick Gordon I don't think they pick him at number 5  if they knew he would stay that lean?  He did hit all the way up though so they got that part right.  
So yeah I get what you are saying but so far this is where the pundits have them.  I hope Skene's falls and I would take him over Clark in a heartbeat.  I just can't see him making it to number 5 right now.  Then again I didn't see Lee making it to 8. I am struggling on what to think about Dollander.  He has scared me off of grabbing him at number 5 but I also believe whatever might be broken can likely be fixed.  Just not sure what to think there yet but I would be be happy with any of the guys you named.

I pretty much agree with this and I'd say Skenes is feeling pretty unlikely to get past 3 at this point as well. Although the top of the draft always seems to be a little less settled than we think prior to the draft (Just look at the Rangers picking Rocker  3rd and adding a bit of chaos into the top 10 last year).
I've seen Langford mocked to the Twins a couple times, and I could certainly see it happening as there are always a few teams that are looking for toolsy HS kids.  Not sure about the tendencies of the teams ahead of us this year.  I think that might be my preferred, somewhat realistic scenario right now, though I will be happy with either Jenkins or Clark as well.
It is kind of hard to see the scenario where the Twins have a choice between 2 or more of the top 5 but there probably is some universe where one of the top 4 (probably the Rangers) decides to get weird with their pick.
I'm getting more interested in the comp round pick.  I think it could be a good year to get some of the left over HS talent that drops out of the first round.  I could also see one of the big college hitters like Wilken, Hurley, Davis, Schanuel, or Ledbetter making it to the Twins, and it's kind of hard to see this regime passing on one of those bats.

Skenes, Clark, Dollander for me, but I always want an elite arm at the top, and am not usually right......but I haven't exactly loved their HS SS picks lately.......so I'm scared of the two HS guys.

It kind of feels like the top 5 is the top 5 right now.  Other than Crews at number 1 the order could go any number of ways but odds are the college guys go 1, 2, 3, with the two high schoolers left as college players tend to move faster.  I think that leaves the Twins picking Jenkins or Clark.  There are rumblings out there though about Teel.  Catchers that can hit are hard to find so even if his bat might not be quite as good as the top 5, his hit tool could be very good to elite for a catcher.  Other than that I think things stays the same unless some bad injury causes someone to fall.
For me I would be happy with any one of the top 5 players.  Not sure about Teel yet but I would be OK with that pick as well I think.  Clark is still my preferred pick if he falls to 5.  Will have to wait and see if things change.  They sure did last year.

ThanK you you both so very much! for the work you put in this, I really enjoyed it. Cole Carrigg is my personal favorite, Just because of the team's need in the OF, he was switched off catching. The pundits have docked him believing he has no position but he can literately play anywhere & excel. Because of the lack of quality college catchers available and our need, he could be a steal at #75

95Mph may be “averageish” but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to hit. Middle/Middle is easy to hit.
Varland obviously has good enough stuff to get MLB hitters out. He’s started a half-dozen or more games with decent results. Command is the key…….Maddux command is a big ask……just the ability to move the ball around helps a bunch. The thing I’d like to see Varland do is to take a page out of Ryan’s approach and throw some letter high fastballs both in & out. Ryan consistently is up in the zone with velocity & he works both sides of the plate with this. He throws high strikes not just Show pitches to set something up. If Varland could not only pound fastballs at the knees but also get some high strikes occasionally it would be very valuable.
Easier said than done!

Welcome to TD! Great first post

I don't that's the point of this article? Also Varland's best pitch is his fastball so it makes sense to discuss velocity. The writer also mentioned that his secondary pitches were pretty good but clearly not at the level that his fastball is. Maddux was one of a kind as well and we kinda have one in Sonny Gray who clearly isn't at Maddux's level but doesn't compete w elite velocity, the same as Joe Ryan who could hit 95 but that isn't his focus.