Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month

[David Youngs]

Think we’re playing favorites by giving this award to Jose Miranda back-to-back months? Take a look at the guy’s numbers.

Jose Miranda may just be the best thing to ever happen to the Minnesota Twins since the invention of sliced bread. After a downright stellar month of May, Miranda shifted into Mach 5 come June, producing arguably one of the best single months that the Twins organization has seen from a minor league prospect. 

For that reason, he’s our June Hitter of the Month. 

3B/2B/1B Jose Miranda (Wichita/St. Paul) 25 G, 43-111, .387/.438/.694 (1.132) with 4 doubles, 10 homers, 9 BB, 15 K, 23 R, 20 RBI.

Miranda, who’s been at Double-A Wichita for most of the month, caught the public eye last night in his Triple-A debut with the Saints. The Puerto Rico native gave himself the best birthday present a guy could ask for, launching three HR (including a grand slam) and tallying 6 RBI in a 15-4 win over Omaha.

The thing is, one night doesn’t do Miranda justice. He’s been damn good all month (and season) long. 

In 23 games with Wichita this month the slugger slashed an incredible .370/.427/.610 (1.037) with three doubles, seven homers, nine BB, 19 runs, 14 RBI, and only 14 strikeouts. That stat line will only go up thanks to his stellar night in St. Paul. 

Successful hitting is grounded in consistency. Miranda has passed that test with flying colors, hitting safely in 19 of 24 games this month with 12 of those games being multi-hit endeavors.

In addition to his ability to bring his bat to the ballpark every day, there are a few pinpoint performances that have inked the word stardom to his name. On June 24 he went 5-for-6 with a run and RBI in a win against Omaha. And while that game consisted of four singles and a double, Tuesday night wasn’t the first time that Miranda has flexed the longball with a multi-homer game. On June 20 he went 3-for-4 with two homers and nine total bases in a win against Springfield. He followed that up the next day with a 4-for-5 showing at the plate with a homer, three runs, and eight total bases. 

Given his success so far this year it wouldn’t be shocking to see Miranda at the MLB level later this season. And while that’s a whole new ballgame it’s tough not to root for the guy after his hot start.

Check Out: Miranda Searches for New Heights in 2020

Rounding out the Top Five

Outfielder Ernie De La Trinidad (Wichita) 19 G, 24-70, .343/.439/.614 (1.053) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homers, 5 BB, 11 K, 9 ER, 17 RBI.

Jose Miranda may have stolen the show in regard to the Wichita offense but De La Trinidad was nothing short of brilliant this past month. In fact, De La Trinidad and Miranda may be one of the best 1-2 punches in all of minor league baseball. 

Similar to Miranda, De La Trinidad’s month of May was nothing to be ashamed of. The Phoenix native slashed .302/.370/.429 in 17 games throughout the month. In a relatively similar number of June games, De La Trinidad’s numbers skyrocketed. And while he may not be a power hitter he doubled his number of extra-base hits from five in May to 10 in June, including four homers. 

De La Trinidad hasn’t played a game in over a week due to a hamstring injury but hopes to be back in the lineup soon.  Jose may be up in St. Paul but don’t be surprised if De La Trinidad continues to put up high-quality numbers.
 

3B/2B/1B/LF Edouard Julien (Fort Myers) 25 G, 22-77, .286/.481/.468 (.949) with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 25 BB, 23 K, 23 R, 11 RBI.

Julien, an Auburn product and Twins Daily Top 20 Prospect has been heating up as the summer has progressed. After 47 games in Fort Myers he was called up to Cedar Rapids on June 28 thanks to a .299 average with the Mussels. What perhaps sticks out the most is Julien's ability to hit in all way, shapes and forms. Of his 44 hits with Fort Myers 16 were extra base hits (12 2B, 3 HR, 3B). Yet his greatest weapon might be his speed. The Quebec native has stolen 21 bases so far this year and has only been caught stealing twice. Buxton-esque one might say.

 

Julien still has a way to go before cracking the bigs but his progress has been spectacular. For a kid who was drafted in the 18th round of the 2019 draft, Julien is making his presence known throughout the organization in his first full season. 

2B/3B/SS Spencer Steer (Cedar Rapids) 26 G, 28-98, .286/.421/.612 (1.034) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 21 BB, 22 K, 25 R, 21 RBI. 

An electric defender, Steer has proven his offensive prowess in the last month with the Kernels. In his final three games before being assigned to Wichita the Oregon Duck alum knocked four hits and scored two runs. That offensive talent transitioned well to Wichita to say the least. In just his second Double-A game Steer went 2-for-4 with three runs and three RBI thanks to moonshot over the left field wall. 

 

Despite a wealth of power, Steer's money maker is his ability to get on base. He drew 20 walks in June and hit safety in 18 of 26 games. Expect him to continue to put up big numbers as he gets acclimated to Double-A ball. 

OF/1B Trey Cabbage (Cedar Rapids) 23 G, 27-89, .303/.364/.618 (.982), with 10 doubles, 6 homers, 9 BB, 29 K, 13 R, 23 RBI.

Similar to De La Trinidad, Cabbage isn’t exactly what you’d call a home run hitter. That wasn’t the case on June 24, when the Tennessee native tallied his first multi-homer game since rookie ball in a win over Lansing. That and his ability to drive runs in earned him a promotion to Double-A Wichita earlier this week. 

The Cabbage Patch Kid has shown that he’s a jack of all trades at the plate and in the field. He's been rock-solid in the outfield for the Kernels and his versatility on offense was one of the main reasons while he was brought up to Wichita. With certain Wichita players being brought up to St. Paul, look for Cabbage to fill some of the offensive holes for the Wind Surge.

 

Honorable Mention

C/1B Tomás Telis (St. Paul)  19 G, 23-77, .299/.341/.468 (.809), with 1 double, 4 homers, 5 walks, 11 K, 10 R, 13 RBI, 2 SB

OF Aaron Whitefield (Wichita) 25 G, 27-91, .297/.381/.374 (.785), with 4 doubles, 1 homer, 13 BB, 18 K, 15 R, 15 RBI, 8 SB

OF Gabriel Maciel (Cedar Rapids) 20 G, 19-63, .302/.375/.381 (.655), with 1 triple, 1 homer, 7 BB, 7 K, 12 R, 8 RBI, 5 SB

SS Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers)  9 G, 11-32, .344/.400/.438 (.838), with 1 double, 1 triple, 3 BB, 8 K, 3 BB, 6 R, 3 RBI

 

 

 

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[Mike Sixel]

What position do these guys play? 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

What position do these guys play? 

I edited/updated to include positions with each player's name. Not an easy one this month as several players have played several positions... which is good. 

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

I edited/updated to include positions with each player's name. Not an easy one this month as several players have played several positions... which is good. 

Thanks. I'd really prefer the SS to play SS more full time (unless they are on the same roster, I guess).....because that's a HARD position to learn/excel at.

[Dman]

57 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

What position do these guys play? 

3 of the top 4 essentially play 2nd base the best, though they all can probably play third as well.  Julien is a below average defender pretty much everywhere so hopefully he improves in the field.  With Polanco and Arraez holding down 2nd base I don't really see spots for these guys right now.  Miranda can play third as well but with Donaldson there not much room for the best hitters in our system right now.  AT least we have some guys to replace Larnach in Kirilloff at the top of the top 30.

I was hoping Palacios was going to be on this list as he is a SS but he has slumped a bit in June.  Really stinks having Lewis hurt and my guess is he will be Buxtons replacement when he leaves, but still would be nice to see where he would have been with the bat.

Anyway nice to see we have some good hitters in the system.  Here's hoping for even more breakouts in the second half.

 

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

...I was hoping Palacios was going to be on this list as he is a SS but he has slumped a bit in June...

 

Even so, I think Palacios is still hitting well enough to have him take JT Riddle's spot on the Saints after the All Star Break if nothing changes. Palacios may not be on fire, but his overall line has consistently looked good enough. He's been batting about .250 with an OPS north of .800 all month with a few walks and some power mixed in. Over June, over the past couple weeks and over the past week, his OPS has been consistently over .800 regardless of how he got there so it doesn't shout anything is wrong or he's overmatched.

Meanwhile, at age 29, Riddle hasn't really shown anything with the bat since 2018 and he's been pretty unplayable in AAA this year. It sucks to see dreams end, but Riddle got a few plate appearances in the big show if this is his likely last hurrah. It seems unlikely the Twins are going to keep Palacios from moving up with nobody blocking him at this point.

[Lucas Seehafer PT]

51 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Even so, I think Palacios is still hitting well enough to have him take JT Riddle's spot on the Saints after the All Star Break if nothing changes. Palacios may not be on fire, but his overall line has consistently looked good enough. He's been batting about .250 with an OPS north of .800 all month with a few walks and some power mixed in. Over June, over the past couple weeks and over the past week, his OPS has been consistently over .800 regardless of how he got there so it doesn't shout anything is wrong or he's overmatched.

Meanwhile, at age 29, Riddle hasn't really shown anything with the bat since 2018 and he's been pretty unplayable in AAA this year. It sucks to see dreams end, but Riddle got a few plate appearances in the big show if this is his likely last hurrah. It seems unlikely the Twins are going to keep Palacios from moving up with nobody blocking him at this point.

It wouldn't surprise me too much if we see the Twins make a few moves like these as the season progresses. The Triple-A squad is filled with former major leaguers who don't really have a role or value on a team like the Twins at the moment. A few will stick around as you need enough warm bodies to fill the roster, but there could be quite a bit of movement, particularly after the trade deadline.