Article: 2019 Twins Midseason Top Prospect List: 21-25

[Cody Christie]

Prospects in the mid-20s range for an organization can encompass quite the cornucopia of players. Some on the names below were once considered top-100 prospects in all of baseball. However, prospects can be fickle and that’s why it’s not a good idea for fans to get attached to certain names. Only a handful of players will ever be successful at baseball’s highest level.Over a two-week span, Twins Daily will be revealing the Twins Daily Midseason Top 40 Prospects. Minnesota has some of the best prospects in the game and one of the strongest farm systems. There have been some changes from our preseason top-20 list, but most of those changes are draft picks and strong performances.

 

Continue reading, and then discussing, the Twins Daily choices for 25th through 21st prospects of the Minnesota Twins below.

 

25. Yunior Severino – 2B

Age: 19

ETA: 2023

2019 Stats (A-): .269/.367/.269 (.636 OPS), 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 7 K, 4 BB

2019 Preseason Ranking: 15

Seth: 34 | Tom: 21 | Cody: 18 | Ted: 25 | Steve: NR

 

Severino took a roundabout way of getting to the Twins organization. During the 2017 international signing period, the Twins had their eyes set on Severino. He decided to sign with Atlanta, but the Braves had circumvented international spending rules. Severino and 13 other prospects had their contract voided. In his first taste of full-season ball, Severino has seen limited action because of a broken thumb. Prior to the injury, he had gone 6-for-22 with four walks and seven strikeouts. Severino continues to add weight to his frame and with it should come some more power. When he is healthy, he should be a player to move quickly up this list.

 

24. Edwar Colina - RHP

Age: 22

ETA: 2022

2019 Stats (A+): 41.0 IP, 3.51 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 3.55 K/BB

2019 Ranking: HM

Seth: 13 | Tom: 30 | Cody: 35 | Ted: 31 | Steve: 13

 

Colina signed with the Twins back in 2015 out of Venezuela. Last year was a breakout season for him at Cedar Rapids. Over his final six starts at that level, he had 51 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. He has spent all this season in Fort Myers after finishing at that level last year. His first start was a little rough as he allowed six earned runs on eight hits and he couldn’t finish the fifth inning. Since then, he has posted a 2.48 with 34 strikeouts and 8 walks in 36 1/3 innings. Colina has a lot of strength in his lower half and this helps him to reach into the mid-90s with his fastball. He mixes in a good changeup and a solid breaking ball. If he continues to pitch well, he could be in the Pensacola rotation before the season ends.

 

23. Jose Miranda – 3B/2B

Age: 20

ETA: 2022

2019 Stats (A+): .235/.300/.350 (.650 OPS), 14 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 37 K, 16 BB

2019 Ranking: 20

Seth: 28 | Tom: 17 | Cody: 26 | Ted: 26 | Steve: 30

 

Minnesota took Jose Miranda with their second-round pick in 2016. He played a big role in last year’s FSL championship run with Fort Myers as he went 10-for-25 (.400) with three doubles and a pair of home runs. The right-handed hitting infielder has combined for 91 regular season games at High-A over the last two seasons. During that time, he has hit .229/.297/.351 (.648) with 27 extra-base hits and a 48 to 21 strikeout to walk ratio. After hitting 16 home runs last year, his power has dipped a little. It would be nice to see him have a hot second half like last year. Miranda has split time playing second base and third base throughout his professional career and this year he has spent most of his time at the hot corner.

 

22. Zack Littell - RHP

Age: 24

ETA: 2018

2019 Stats:

MLB: 9.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 1.0 BB/9, 7.00 K/BB

(AAA): 50.2 IP, 3.91 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 3.41 K/BB

2019 Preseason Ranking: 17

Seth: 39 | Tom: 15 | Cody: 15 | Ted: 27 | Steve: NR

 

Littell was acquired from the Yankees as part of the Jaime Garcia trade back in 2017. He was a little bit of a polarizing prospect when it came to these rankings. Even though he is being used as a relief pitcher at the big-league level, some of us still think he could fit in as a starter. His MLB numbers look a little rough because he allowed eight earned runs in 4 1/3 innings back on May 30. In his other three appearances, he has yet to allow a run. His fastball has increased this season, which usually can be expected for pitchers coming out of the bullpen. He can help the bullpen this season and it will be interesting to see if the club keeps him there long-term.

 

21. Stephen Gonsalves - LHP

ETA: 2018

Age: 24

2019 Stats (AAA): 2.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 22.5 BB/9, 0.40 K/BB

2019 Ranking: 12

Seth: 22 | Tom: 28 | Cody: 20 | Ted: 20 | Steve: 14

 

Gonsalves, a fourth-round pick in 2013, has been one of the Twins best starting pitchers in the minors over the last half of a decade. So far this year, he has been limited to one appearance. He is dealing with a stress reaction in his elbow and forearm. His UCL is intact, so the club is using a period of rest before he will be reexamined. He dominated at Double-A and High-A with sub-2.50 ERAs and sub 1.16 WHIP totals. Triple-A has seen some ups and downs with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 125 innings. He sits in the low-90s with his fastball so it’s critical for him to have command of all his pitches. His change-up might be his best pitch and he adds in a low-70s curveball as well.

 

Who’s ranked too high? Who’s ranked too low? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Also, check back next week to see who made the top-30 prospects.

 

Twins Daily 2019 Midseason Prospect Rankings

Prospects 36-40

Prospects 31-35

Prospects 26-30

Prospects 21-25 (TODAY)

Prospects 16-20 Coming Soon

 

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[Danchat]

I'm thinking Littell might stick in the majors as a reliever. I think his chances are a lot better with the uptick in velocity on the fastball. Maybe he'll return as a starter at some point, but in the small sample size we saw, he looked very hittable.

 

Boy, Gonsalves was once the #1 Twins pitching prospect for some people (around 2016/2017?). Injuries do make prospects hard to rate.

[Dman]

Pretty much agree with this list the only change I would make is to have Gonsalves lower.  He is 24 now and his WHIP is crazy high for how long he has been pitching.  I felt like he really needed to bring it this year to re-establish his prospect ranking.  Being hurt it is hard to say where to put him so I am fine with where he is but in my mind he is trending down until he can change perception with performance.

 

Severino is a young exciting hitter but with such limited time in the minors it is hard to say just how good he is right now.  He is young with a high ceiling so I think this is a good spot for him right now.

 

Have been a fan of Colina for a while now. After last summer I thought he might reach the teens but being injured early and not showing quite the same dominance just yet I like where he is on the list.  He has the stuff to make it as a starter but Iike him as a power reliever as well.

 

Don't know what to think about Littell anymore.  He has good movement on his pitches but still seems to give up more than his fair share of hits and runs.  I expected a bit more dominance from him in AAA this year. So far he has looked pretty good out of the pen.  He is someone I had hoped would be higher on the list but again I think this a decent spot for him right now.

[wyowib]

Miranda's only 20??? Still?...one of those players where you're like "I could have sworn I've been reading about him for..."  yet not even drinking age, man, my 40 YO brain isn't as on top of it as it used to be.  That being said, I LOVED the Gonsalves pick, extra early mocks had him in the top half of the first.  Where he was picked I thought,"This is exactly the type of chance they should take".  Not a fan of the Old Guard, but this was a good pick.  If he doesn't work out even on the level of a "trade piece, AAAA starter, bull pen..." I won't be disappointed.  It happens more often than not.  And taking a chance on him was better than placing all hopes on 1st rounders with names like Wimmers and Micheal; the, "low ceiling/high floor Twins guys" (I hated those picks so much, I mean, how accurate are the 1st ten picks in a typical mock?, and yet, every. single. person who put out a mock knew the twins would take those two in the 20's)  Gonsalves was a great 4th round pick that at this point is nothing but gravy if he works out in some way.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I’m still driving the Gonsalves bandwagon. A lot of people have jumped off over the past year, but I think you are bailing way too quick. He’s got a very impressive track record, marred by one down year (and now, injury). If you look at all the top pitchers in the game, you will find bad years.

 

When he comes back, he’s going to start posting great numbers again. Still hoping he cracks the 2020 rotation, with high hopes that he is a real contributor.

[SarasotaBill]

Jose Miranda is rated way too high. His track record doesn't indicate elite hitter. One could argue he's being pushed aggressively through the system but I think his rating is from being drafted in the 2nd round and hoping he turns the corner in the future.

 

I would have Luke Raley rated higher.

[dbminn]

Glad to see Colina back and pitching well. A team can never have too many pitching prospects. 

[Tomj14]

Trade them, trade them all for relief pitching!

 

[rdehring]

Looking at these five as a group, must say I was more excited about the five we read about yesterday, 26-30.  Don't know if I would flip all five, but certainly several.

[jmlease1]

 

Looking at these five as a group, must say I was more excited about the five we read about yesterday, 26-30.  Don't know if I would flip all five, but certainly several.

 

This. I like some of the 26-30 better than this crew too. (Raley, Diaz, Smeltzer are guys worthy of flipping) Heck, I think I like Griffin Jax better than Colina.

 

Gonsalves is having a lost season; you have to wonder if he's going to pitch again this year. Unfortunately, I'm betting on surgery at this point. Hard to rank him right now with injury.

 

There are some guys I like in this pack (Miranda, Severino) but you have to squint a little to envision high end results on all of them. But there's things to like.

[jsteve96]

 

Jose Miranda is rated way too high. His track record doesn't indicate elite hitter. One could argue he's being pushed aggressively through the system but I think his rating is from being drafted in the 2nd round and hoping he turns the corner in the future.

 

I would have Luke Raley rated higher.

Miranda turns 21 this week, he's 4 years younger than the average FSL player. he's holding his own in a pitchers league and he showed power with 16 HRs as a 19 year old last year. He might be rated too LOW if anything

[Shane Wahl]

Gonsalves is a top 8 prospect. I am confused by this.