Twins Daily College Baseball Notebook: Week 4

[Jamie Cameron]

For the first time this season, we've added two names to our 2022 Draft #8 overall pick watch list. Come and find out who they are and read up on the week that was in college baseball.

The Twins are back up and running. What a weekend! If you want to take a short break from the madness of the offseason, come and read up on the week that was in college baseball.

Weekly Recap
There’s a new number one team in the country. For the first time in over 20 years, Notre Dame occupies the top spot in this week's top 25. They swept a series with North Carolina State to open ACC play, while previous #1 Texas went 2-3 on the week. Mississippi, Oregon State, Texas, and Virginia round out the top five for the week.

At the end of the second weekend of the young season, here is where Baseball America has the top 25 teams.

Moment of the Week
This week, despite a poor week overall and being knocked off their perch as the number one team in the country, the moment of the week comes from Texas’ Ivan Melendez.

This insane bat-flip almost ended up on the pitchers' mound! 

Or, if you’re more into pitching, how about Texas State beating Texas and giving the Texas dugout the ‘horns down’.

Potential #8 Pick Performances
For the first time this season, I’m adding a couple of names to the Minnesota Twins watch-list for the number eight overall pick, Kevin Parada and Gavin Cross.

Parada is unquestionably one of the breakout stars of the season in college baseball so far. Parada is likely to have a strong hit tool and good power (especially to the pull side). Parada has an excellent arm and is a strong athlete overall, but there are mixed reviews of his catching skill-set overall. Georgia Tech has a long history of developing outstanding catchers (Joey Bart, Matt Wieters, and Jason Varitek among them). Parada is a name to watch for the remainder of the 2022 season.

Cross spent a good chunk of the summer with Simeon Woods-Richardson as part of USA Baseball’s Olympic team. A 6’3, 210 lbs. left-handed outfielder out of Virginia Tech, Cross had an excellent 2021, hitting .345 with 11 home runs for the Hokies. Cross has a strong arm, solid speed, and the potential for plus power. He fits the profile of the high-floor caliber player the Twins often target in the first round of the draft.

• Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly, 28-63 (.444), 3 HR, 23 RBI, 14 BB, 3 K
• Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech, 23-65 (.354), 3 HR, 16 RBI, 17 BB, 13 K
• Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech, 30-66 (.455), 8 HR, 28 RBI, 13 BB, 6 K
• Jacob Berry, CI, LSU, 26-68 (.382), 8 HR, 21 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K
• Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech, 19-53 (.358), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K
• Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison 17-37 (.459), 3 HR, 18 RBI, 7 BB, 10 K

Who are you most interested in as a potential number eight pick for the Minnesota Twins? Join the discussion in the comments.

 

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[RJA]

Great update, Jamie.  Parada is definitely of interest.  I noticed BA just bumped him up their list as well.  He sounds a bit like Ryan Jeffers when the Twins drafted him as he too had question marks as to whether he could stay behind the plate.  Now with Jeffers being the last man standing among Twins catchers (Sanchez--I just don't know), I suspect the Twins will be looking to draft some players who don the tools of ignorance this year.  But, it is still early and many will rise and fall as we get closer to the draft.  

[se7799]

Thankyou for these updates Jam.  Great insight and content.

[Jamie Cameron]

16 hours ago, RJA said:

Great update, Jamie.  Parada is definitely of interest.  I noticed BA just bumped him up their list as well.  He sounds a bit like Ryan Jeffers when the Twins drafted him as he too had question marks as to whether he could stay behind the plate.  Now with Jeffers being the last man standing among Twins catchers (Sanchez--I just don't know), I suspect the Twins will be looking to draft some players who don the tools of ignorance this year.  But, it is still early and many will rise and fall as we get closer to the draft.  

Thanks for reading! That is a really interesting comparison that I had not thought of (Jeffers). The only note I'd add on that (I think your comp is a really good one) is that Parada is against much stiffer competition than Jeffers was at UNC Wilmington, additionally, Parada was a pretty heralded prep bat before going to college. I'll be watching him with interested as his beginning of the season has been amazing! Thanks again for reading and commenting.

[Jamie Cameron]

14 hours ago, se7799 said:

Thankyou for these updates Jam.  Great insight and content.

Appreciate you reading and commenting!