Search the Community

The Twins have been attempting to create a pitching pipeline, starting with developing arms up and down the organization. Here is one pitcher to watch for each Twins affiliate in 2023. Image courtesy of William Parmeter The Guardians have stayed relevant in the AL Central because of their ability to continue to churn out above-average big-league arms. Minnesota is trying to replicate Cleveland’s pitching philosophy which is one of the reasons why the team hired Derek Falvey away from their organization. Below are pitchers to keep tabs on this season, even if they aren’t the top-ranked prospect at that level. Triple-A: Randy Dobnak Saints Opening Day Roster The Saints are starting the year with a loaded rotation, including Bailey Ober, Louie Varland, and Simeon Woods Richardson. Randy Dobnak might be a forgotten piece of the organization’s pitching depth. Minnesota signed him to a five-year extension leading into the 2021 season, but a finger injury has limited him to just over 50 big-league innings over the last two years. He’s no longer on the 40-man roster and needs to prove he is healthy before the Twins give him another big-league opportunity. Fans also need to keep realistic expectations for Dobnak in 2023. In his first Saints start, he allowed one earned run on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts. Multiple younger pitching prospects have passed him in the organization’s depth chart, but that doesn’t mean he can’t provide future value to the club. Double-A: Kody Funderburk Wind Surge Opening Day Roster The Twins drafted Funderburk in the 15th round of the 2018 MLB Draft from Dallas Baptist University. Last season, he spent the entire season at Double-A with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP with a 103-to-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 107 innings. He was slightly older than the average age of the competition at Double-A last season, so it will be interesting to see how the Twins treat him this year. The left-handed hurler will be even older for the level in 2023, but there are other names ahead of him at Triple-A. His goal should be to reach Triple-A by the season’s second half. David Festa is the highest-ranked pitching prospect on the Wind Surge staff, with former top prospect Blayne Enlow also on the roster. High-A: Jaylen Nowlin Kernels Opening Day Roster Many eyes will be on Cedar Rapids to see the professional debut of Connor Prielipp, Minnesota’s second-round pick in 2022. He was considered one of the top college arms in the draft class but was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Nowlin joins Prielipp in the Kernels rotation, and he looks like a steal from the 19th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. In 2022, Nowlin made 22 appearances between Low- and High-A with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. His strikeout rate was impressive as he posted a 14.1 K/9 with 111 strikeouts in 71 innings. In 2023, he needs to continue to build his innings total and cut back on his walk (4.6 BB/9) and hit rate (7.6 H/9). He’s starting the season where he ended last year and now needs to prove he can make positive strides as a starting pitcher. Low-A: Juan (Miguel) Olivares Mighty Mussels Opening Day Roster Minnesota signed Olivares out of Venezuela in September 2021, which meant the 2022 season marked his professional debut. Twins Daily voted Olivares the short-season minor league pitcher of the year after posting a 1.44 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP over 50 innings. He has not allowed a home run during his professional career and posted a 54-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio. As a 19-year-old, he will come stateside in 2023 and look to build off his award-winning pro debut. Nearly 78% of his plate appearances came against younger batters, and that trend should continue during the 2023 campaign. He’s a long way from Target Field, but he can continue to make strides that will help him rise on prospect rankings. Which pitchers will you be watching at each level? Will any of the names listed above have a breakout season? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. View full article

On Monday, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels officially announced their Opening Day roster. Find out which prospects will be starting with a full-season affiliate for the first time? How many 2022 draft picks are on the roster? How many of the Twins Daily Top 20 prospects are on this roster? Image courtesy of William Parmeter (L to R: Carlos Aguiar, Luis Baez, Rubel Cespedes) Let's take a look at the Mighty Mussels Opening Day roster. Coaching Staff Brian Meyer is back for his third season as the Mighty Mussels manager, his fourth in the organization. Pitching Coach Richard Salazar moves from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers this season after spending the past two years with the Kernels. Jared Gaynor will enter his second season as a Mighty Mussels pitching coach. Rayden Sierra returns to the Mighty Mussels as their hitting coach again. Luis Reyes was a coach in the FCL a year ago and he is now the Assistant Hitting Coach in Ft. Myers. Starting Pitchers: Tomas Cleto, Cory Lewis, Andrew Morris, Juan (Miguel) Olivares, Zebby Matthews. Andrew Morris was the Twins fourth-round pick from Texas Tech a year ago and made an appearance for the Mighty Mussels in the playoffs last year. Cory Lewis was their ninth round pick out of UC-Santa Barbara in 2022. Zebby Matthews is a hard throwing righty taking the eighth round last year out of Western Carolina University. Tomas Cleto pitched well in the FCL last season and earned a late-season promotion to the Mussels. Juan Olivares was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year last year when he, going by Miguel last year, posted a 144 ERA in the DSL. Relief Pitchers: Johnathan Lavallee, Develson Aria, Ben Ethridge, C.J. Culpepper, A.J. Labas, Juan Mendez, Samuel Perez, Jackson Hicks, Wilker Reyes, Zach Veen, Gabriel Yanez Ben Ethridge was the Twins 15th round pick a year ago from Southern Miss. CJ Culpepper was their 13th rounder out of California Baptist. Zach Veen was their 18th round pick in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Lavallee was their 16th round pick in 2021 out of Long Beach State. Hicks signed late in the 2021 season out of the USPBL in Michigan. That is about the time they signed AJ Labas who had gone undrafted out of LSU. Sam Perez was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year in 2021 and spent most of the 2022 season with Ft. Myers. Gabriel Yanez signed with the Phillies in 2016 and reached Low-A Clearwater in 2022. The Twins signed him this offseason as a free agent. Last year in this league, he had 58 strikeouts and just 13 walks over 50 1/3 innings. One to watch is hard-throwing Juan Mendez. And lefty Develson Aria is intriguing as well. Catchers: Andrew Cossetti, Ricardo Olivar, Dillon Tatum Andrew Cossetti was drafted in the 11th round last year out of St. Joseph’s in Philly. Tatum caught two Mussels no hitters last year. Olivar had a breakout season in the FCL last year, hitting .349/.442/.605 (1.046) with 12 doubles, three triples and five homers over 40 games. A good athlete, he actually spent more time in the outfield in 2022. Infielders: Rubel Cespedes, Danny De Andrade, Yohander Martinez, Jorel Ortega, Mikey Perez, Dalton Shuffield. Danny De Andrade is the top prospect in this group. One of the top international signings in 2021, he held his own in the FCL a year ago. Jorel Ortega was the team’s sixth round pick a year ago. He had one at bat with the Mussels and had an RBI hit, but he hurt his wrist on the play which ended his season. Cespedes is an intriguing prospect who has some offensive upside. Martinez was a minor-league Rule 5 pick in December. And why Mikey Perez and Dalton Shuffield are starting in Ft. Myers is just silly. Perez was the 15th round pick of the Twins in 2021 from UCLA. He played 81 games in Ft. Myers a year ago, then moved up to Cedar Rapids for 28 more games. He even played one game with the Saints and hit a game-winning, three-run homer in his lone at-bat. He led the organization with 48 stolen bases last year. And, for good measure, he played in nine spring games for the Twins this year and went 4-for-10. Shuffield spent five years at Texas State University before the Twins took him in the 10th round of the 2022 draft. After three games in the FCL last year, he moved up to Cedar Rapids for eight games. Then he moved up to Triple-A St. Paul and started almost every day for 14 games. He hit .271/.314/.542 (.855) with three doubles, two triples, and two home runs. All that is small sample size, but he just turned 24. Outfielders: Carlos Aguiar, Luis Baez, Maddux Houghton, Alec Sayre, Dylan Neuse. Carlos Aguiar and Luis Baez signed with the Twins in 2017 from Venezuela. Aguiar is a big, strong power hitting outfielder. Baez is a speed merchant, capable of stealing a ton of bags and taking extra bases at will. Houghton signed with the Twins just before spring training began. He spent five years at Lipscomb and then last year played in a summer wood bat league. Alec Sayre was the Twins 17th round pick a year ago out of Wright State. Neuse was the Twins 17th round pick in 2021 out of Texas Tech. His older brother Sheldon spent parts of 2019, 2021 and 2022 in the big leagues. He played in 89 games last year for the A’s. This year, he is playing in for Hanshin, in Japan. TWINS DAILY TOP 20 PROSPECTS None. Danny De Andrade is likely the highest-ranking prospect by most systems. There are definitely some pitching prospects to watch on this list. What do you think of the Mighty Mussels roster? Which players are you most intrigued by and interested in following? View full article