Ben Rortvedt - 2018

[ashbury]

  On 7/9/2018 at 10:07 PM, Monkeypaws said:

Given the paucity of good defensive catching prospects with a bat in this organization

That would be a wrong reason to assign rankings, IMO. But we can save that debate for when his name shows up in the countdown.

 

The tender age absolutely should be seen as a positive, given the performance. That's a very reliable piece of information to factor in about any prospect.

[Monkeypaws]

Not to mention catcher is one of the more demanding positions in the game.

 

He definitely is a prospect on the rise.

[ashbury]

  On 7/9/2018 at 10:07 PM, Monkeypaws said:

Given the paucity of good defensive catching prospects with a bat in this organization, and his tender age for his league, I would be surprised if he doesn't crack top 15. 

He just made it. Hope you took the Over, on my prop-bet line of 14.

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/30588-article-2018-twins-midseason-top-prospect-list-11-15/?do=findComment&comment=769518

[ashbury]

A nice three-game stretch for Ben Rortvedt, July 17-20. In 13 plate appearances against St Lucie and Lakeland, he got base hits 4 times, and supplemented that with 4 walks. No extra-base hits, but that still works out to a tasty 1.115 OPS. He scored 3 runs and drove in 5 (one with a sac fly) during this onslaught.

[ashbury]

Since last report, Ben has kind of muddled along, with not much to brag about in regard to his batting. He did get a hit yesterday afternoon, bringing his Ft Myers average back up to .233.

 

Unless he picks up the pace in the final month, I foresee him repeating high-A in 2019. Which wouldn't be the end of the world for the young'un. Just hoping to see better.

[ashbury]

A 3-for-4 night with 3 doubles, against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on August 8, raised Ben's high-A batting average to .250. Unfortunately no one was on base in front of him, and no one drove him in, so his line in the box score looks kind of funny. Still, it's not really his fault they lost 5-1.

 

Pretty nice photo of him in the local fishwrap's writeup of the game:

 

[ashbury]

Seth took a closer look at my lad, as part of a retrospective on the 2016 draft in today's article.

[ashbury]

Since his big night against Lakeland, Ben has been a little quieter at the plate. In 8 games, he's batting .227. He's walked 3 times plus a HBP in the 26 PA, and has a double and a triple among his 5 hits, so his OPS in this span is a perfectly respectable .710. If this is what constitutes "quiet" for him, we'll take it.

[ashbury]

Grand Salami!

 

In an 8-3 laugher against Bradenton Wednesday night, Ben Rortvedt went 3-for 4, with SIX RBI, including a grand slam homer in the fourth inning. He's riding a 5-game hitting streak, or 8 of his last 9 games.

 

His FSL batting average now stands at .265 and his OPS is up to .746. A little over a week ago these were .245 and .693.

 

[ashbury]

Ben received Honorable Mention for the TD Minor League Hitter of the Month award, for his August body of work. In 61 plate appearances he batted .286, with 4 walks to go along with 5 doubles, a triple, and a homer, leading to a tidy .809 OPS. He struck out only 6 times in that span.