Article: Twins Minor League Hitter Of The Month - May 2016

[Seth Stohs]

I don’t think there’ll be much argument when we reach the bottom of today’s article and see who was named this month’s Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month. In fact, he had such a strong month, he was an easy choice to call back up to the Twins at the end of the month when there was an injury.

 

However, after a poor offensive month overall in the organization in April (blame the cold, right?), there were a lot of very strong hitting performances in the Twins organization in May at each of the affiliates. After struggling to find five hitter options in April, we have 13 players mentioned below between our Top 5 and eight honorable mentions.Before we jump to the top five hitters of the month, here are some more hitters who are very deserving of recognition. These guys had strong May performances. Congratulations to all of the players mentioned below.

• IF James Beresford (Rochester) – .315/.403/.370 (.774). 34-108 with four doubles, one triple, no homers, 23 runs and seven RBIs.
• 3B Nelson Molina (Cedar Rapids) - .348/.450/.379 (.829). 23-66 with two doubles, 15 RBIs and eight runs scored.
• OF Max Murphy (Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers) - .311/.361/.467 (.827) with two doubles, four homers, 12 runs and eight RBIs.
• OF LaMonte Wade (Cedar Rapids) - .280/.430/.398 (.828) with one triple, three home runs, 18 runs and 17 RBIs (24 BB, 13 K).
• OF Adam Brett Walker (Rochester) - .215/.315/.495 (.809) with two doubles, eight home runs, 12 runs and 13 RBIs.
• IF Ryan Walker (Ft. Myers/Chattanooga) - .320/.409/.373 (.792) with two triples, 15 runs and nine RBIs.
• 1B Zander Wiel (Cedar Rapids) - .298/.339/.490 (.830) with seven doubles, two triples, three homers, 13 runs and 22 RBIs.

THE TOP FIVE HITTERS

 

Number 5 - Chattanooga – 1B Dalton Hicks - .333/.411/.444 (.855). 33-99 with eight doubles, one homer, 15 runs and 17 RBIs.

 

 

 

 

Hicks was the Twins 17th-round pick in 2012 out of the University of Central Florida. Since signing, he has been one of the most productive, run-producing players in the organization. In 2013, he led all of minor league baseball in RBIs. At 6-5 and 250 pounds, Hicks is an intimidating man in the batter’s box. In addition to hitting for average, he walked 13 times. Hicks has been a big part of that core that has won several league championships.

Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – 2B Luis Arraez - .340/.398/.437 (.835). 35-103 with eight doubles, one triple, 15 runs and ten RBIs.

 

The diminutive second baseman from Venezuela has been an instigator at the top of the Kernels lineup. He just turned 19 at the beginning of the season. Having watched him this weekend in Cedar Rapids, he does “leadoff hitter” things. He takes pitches and knows the strike zone. He tracks the ball well, and yet, when he does swing, he takes an aggressive cut. He certainly looks like he has a clue at the plate, a plan, despite his youth.

Number 3 – Rochester – 1B Kennys Vargas - .280/.392/.490 (.882). 28-100 with three doubles, six home runs, 12 runs and 22 RBIs.

 

Vargas provides the Twins with depth at first base and designated hitter. After a slow start, he had a very strong May. He hit for some average, but he began taking better at-bats, drawing walks and hitting for power. He was very productive in the middle of the Red Wings lineup. Though he struck out 24 times, he also walked 20 times.

Number 2 – Ft. Myers – OF Edgar Corcino - .321/.388/.514 (.902). 35-109 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, 20 runs and 19 RBIs.

 

Signed out of an independent league after a few years in the Tigers system, Corcino has been very impressive with the Twins. The 23-year-old from Puerto Rico put together a very strong month. He hit for average, and while he is aggressive, he generally takes quality at-bats. He is a great athlete who has some power potential. He also has great speed which helps on the basepaths, but also in the outfield where he frequently provides web gems.

And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is:

 

Rochester – OF Byron Buxton - .370/.437/.674 (1.111). 34-92 with eight doubles, one triple, six home runs, 23 runs and 14 RBIs.

 

When Buxton was sent down to AAA, he started hitting immediately. In his first three games, he had five hits. But he was still striking out quite a bit. As he got more time and confidence, the numbers started coming too. Once the calendar turned to May, Buxton was red-hot.

More important, he wasn’t just getting bloop singles, he was driving. Reverting to his leg kick, Buxton’s timing improved. He began driving the ball all over the ballpark. He hit six home runs, three of them to lead off the game for the Red Wings. He had a lot of doubles, and not just Buxton-speed-hustle doubles, but hard-hit doubles.

He walked just nine times in the month (which is OK), but the quality of the at-bats was much improved. There were several times he fell behind 0-2 in the count and took some tough pitches and worked walks.

Right when he was at his hottest, he missed a week with back spasms. Imagine the numbers he could have put up with another 25-30 plate appearances.

When Danny Santana went on the disabled list late in the month, Buxton was recalled to the big leagues and doubled in his first game back. Will we see a different Buxton in the big leagues this time around. Twins fans certainly want to see that, but probably not as much as Buxton would like to take that step forward in his career.

 

There weren’t a lot of great performances with the bat in April, but May was much better. There were several guys who didn’t get honorable mention who probably warranted discussion as well. Buxton was the easy choice at the top, and I think Corcino was pretty easy choice at number two, but after that, there were just a lot of very solid performances with the bat last month. Starting tomorrow, we’ll see if there were as many strong pitching performances as well.

 

Congratulations to the May Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for 2016, Byron Buxton.

 

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[HitInAPinch]

Well, IMHO it's a different Buxton.  The question is:  will he maintain the changes made at AAA in the MLB? 

 

What's the plan for Vargas?  The MLB club has at least 3 guys in the 1st / DH mold.

[tobi0040]

Plan for Vargas? I haven't seen a plan at any other position.

[jimbo92107]

Not to knock Edgar Corcino's good May, but if the guy's 23 in Ft. Meyers, isn't he beating up on pitchers that are a few years younger than he is? Why don't the Twins bump Corcino up a notch to see what he can do against guys more his age?

[jimbo92107]

Plan for Vargas? I haven't seen a plan at any other position.

I haven't noticed any particular plan for Vargas, other than not wanting to give him away to Boston for nothing. The guy is stuck in limbo with Mauer and Park in his way. His only way out is either to hit .400 the rest of the year or get traded.

[Mike Sixel]

Great month for Buxton. Wow.

[tobi0040]

Jimbo,

 

I was just pointing out the lack of planning all over.

 

Mauer obviously needed to move away from catcher and they did nothing about it. Now we have Kurt.

 

It was as if they just figured out this year that Sano and Plouffe both play 3b.

 

The pen.

 

I need to stop now.

[roger]

Congrats to Buxton, will the third time be a charm?

 

Also curious seeing others wonder what to do with Vargas/Hicks.  Seth, do you see Mr. Ryan trading either between now and spring training?  Certainly would make sense, in my opinion.

 

And thanks for getting rid of that bloody music that was messing with your daily reports!

[tobi0040]

It is quite possible that Vargas has little to no value.

 

He has no position flexibility and his offensive numbers (95 OPS + in big leagues and .731 OPS at AAA this year) don't justify a DH spot.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I know Walker hasn't been great this year, but it's encouraging to see a month with his OBP 100 points higher than his BA.  Hopefully he's figuring that out a bit.  If so, I think the BA comes back around.