Tuesday Morning Tidbits
Entry posted by Cody Christie ·
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Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
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I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. It is great to start the week off on a Tuesday and it will only make the rest of the week go that much faster. Since I work in the local school system, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is the school year.
As has become a weekly happening around here, I will post a few tidbits in the morning to hold readers over until I write the minor league wrap-up for Twins Daily later tonight. It's a fun way to get a bunch of stories out there for readers to enjoy as they kick off their work week.
Draft day is quickly approaching
By this time next week, the Twins hope to have made a difference making pick for the future of the franchise. The organization will have the second overall pick in the first round of next Monday's MLB Draft. There are no stand-out prospects like Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper at the top of this draft so it might be a tough selection for the Twins after Houston makes the first pick.
The first four picks in last year's draft were all top notch pitching prospects that have been making noise in the minor leagues to start the year. This year's draft is not projecting to be that heavy with pitchers at the top because there are a couple of very good position players available for selection. The decision will be tough for the Twins on whether to take a pitcher or look at a position player.
With an injury earlier this year to high school pitcher Lucas Giolito, the top pitcher to be taken in the draft will most likely be Mark Appel from Stanford University. It will be interesting to see who is willing to take a flyer on Giolito in the first round or if team's will be convinced that he is going to college to revamp his draft stock. Kevin Gausman from LSU could also be the Twins choice at number two but it sounds like Appel is the top pitcher on their board.
In the last couple of weeks, the team held a workout for Carlos Correa, a high school senior shortstop in Puerto Rico. Correa isn't the highest ranked position player so there are others that could be taken before he is off the board. High school outfielder Byron Buxton is number one prospect on many draft prospect boards and it would be intriguing if he is still available when it is the Twins turn to pick.
Sano ends home run drought
It has been a rough couple weeks for Twins top prospect Miguel Sano after he started the 2012 season at a feverish pace. In the first month of the year, Sano had six bombs while hitting .276/.422/.586 in 25 games. The month of May has not been as kind to Sano as he is batting .219/.287/.458 but his strike out totals have dropped in the same amount of games.
It looked liked Monday was going to be more of the same for Sano as he started the day 0-for-6 at the plate. The rest of his team was in the middle of a hit parade so it seemed like it should only be a matter of time before Sano joined in on the action. In the 12th inning after the Snappers had already took over the lead, Sano hit a 3-run shot to solidify the win for Beloit.
Sano was failing to manage a single hit for much of last week so it will be interesting to see how he looks after finally hitting another home run. He now has a four-game hitting streak with a couple of extra-base hits. There was talk of moving Sano to Fort Myers but his recent struggles could push back his advancement to the next level.
Valencia needs more consistency at Triple-A
When the Twins sent Danny Valencia back to Rochester, there were plenty of things for him to work on. He was struggling at the plate against major league caliber pitching and his defense had been shaky at the hot corner. There need to be more consistency from the 27-year old third baseman and that consistency has yet to show up for Rochester.
In his 15 games since being demoted, Valencia is hitting .267/.279/.417 with two home runs and three doubles. After getting over 1,000 plate appearances in the big leagues, it should have been easier for Valencia to succeed at the Triple-A level. Valencia has always seemed to be a very confident player and it appears that he needs to gain some of that confidence back before he can get another shot with the Twins.
A recent hot streak has helped to boost his numbers as he has hit .325/.341/.525 in his last 10 games. Terry Ryan is still concerned that Valencia is swinging at pitches that are out of the strike zone. Ryan said, "A guy like Valencia needs to be looking for a strike, jump on it and drive it into the gap." Until the Twins are confident in his ability to recognize pitches, there is a good chance he will stay down. It is still kind of discouraging to think he needs this time in the minors when he is 27-years old and he has plenty of time in at the major leagues.
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