Twins Spotlight: Catcher Patrick Winkel

[Seth Stohs]

There's not much better than talking baseball with a catcher. Get to know Twins catching prospect Patrick Winkel as we discuss his youth baseball, joining his brother at U-Conn, getting drafted by the Twins, and starting his professional career. 

Image courtesy of Steve Buhr, Twins Daily

Patrick Winkel grew up in the New Haven, Connecticut, area. He attended Amity Regional High School in Woodridge. He quickly became one of the top players on his high school team.

Winkel was an All-State player three times. His team won the state championship in his freshman and sophomore years. He was invited to participate in Perfect Game National and other regional and national events. He twice played in the Area Code games. 

College recruiters were watching him play early in his high school career. Of course, they were there to watch another player on his high school team. His older brother, Chris, was a star on the team and was recruited by several colleges. He made the decision to go to the University of Connecticut and played their five years. Patrick enjoyed meetings with college coaches when they were talking to his brother. 

In 2018, Pat Winkel was named the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year and received several other awards. He was named a First-Team All-American. That summer, the New York Yankees used their 31st-round pick to draft him. At that point, he knew he was heading to college.

"It was a phone call. They said we're going to take you just to show you that we like you. We'll three years," said Winkel, who called it a "courtesy pick." 

He decided to join his brother in Storrs and play for the Huskies. 

He played in 13 games that summer for the Bristol Blues in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. It is a college league in New England that allowed incoming freshmen to play. He had a nice showing, hitting .320.

As a freshman, Winkel played in 49 games and hit .318/.361/.486 (.846) with eight doubles and seven home runs. He spent that summer on Cape Cod playing some summer ball. 

Unfortunately, as he was set to begin the 2020 season, he was injured and needed Tommy John surgery. After several conversations, he decided to have the surgery before the season with the thought that he would be able to get some at-bats in fall ball and be ready for his junior season. The decision worked out perfectly as the season was cut short by Covid. 

"It gave me an opportunity to really focus on my rehab, and not feel like I was rushed to get back anywhere, to take it at the pace it was meant to be taken at." 

In 2021, he returned with no restrictions. He played in 53 games. He hit .279/.353/.515 (.868) with 13 doubles and 11 home runs. He was able to catch and showed off a very strong arm. 

When the draft came, Winkel heard his name called in the ninth round to the Minnesota Twins. He had eligibility to play two or even three more seasons at UConn, so it wasn't an easy decision for him to sign. It certainly wasn't automatic. The teams went back and forth a couple of times before reaching an agreement well above the slot value. 

Winkel noted, "It was not an easy decision. They had called me at one point and made an offer that I thought at that point, going back to college would be the best route. We expressed that to them. They were able to come back with a different one that was better, and with that one, we thought it was definitely the best option." 

Four rounds after drafting Winkel, the Twins drafted his college roommate, outfielder Kyler Fedko, in the 13th round. Also, the Twins had drafted Anthony Prato in the 7th round of the 2019 draft from UConn. Prato had a breakout season in 2022 between Cedar Rapids and Wichita. Prato had been a roommate in college for a couple of years with Patrick's brother Chris. 

He headed to Ft. Myers to sign and to go through a couple of weeks of, essentially, orientation, adjusting to pro ball, meeting everybody, and more. He also was able to get back into the flow of baseball before he ended the season playing in 21 games for the Mighty Mussels. 

His 2022 season began a little late because of a lower-back injury. In late May, he joined the Cedar Rapids Kernels. In 54 games, he hit .254/.330/.391 (.721) with nine doubles and six home runs. 

At one point, for a handful of games, Winkel, Fedko, and Prato were all on the Cedar Rapids roster. 

The Twins really like Pat Winkel and his abilities behind the plate and at the plate, and when healthy, he is definitely a prospect to watch over the next couple of years. This conversation was a solid 50 minutes, and it went in many directions: 

• How does he see himself as a hitter, and what can he become?
• I mentioned in the teaser that I love talking to catchers. What are the things that make Winkel love being a catcher?
• He talked about his strengths and what he is working on behind the plate. 
• He shares an interesting story about getting to call pitches in a college game, which is unusual, but it went well and he got to keep doing it the rest of the season. 
• Learning the new catching stance. 
• Will the new rules change how organizations teach catching and throwing?
• Spending time in spring training on the big-league side, catching some bullpens, and being able to watch Ryan Jeffers and talk to Hank Conger. 
• There is a reference to a "Venn Diagram" (a first in Twins Spotlight history!).  
• Find out what he enjoys doing away from baseball. 

This was a very enjoyable conversation, and I think you will enjoy it. 

For more from Twins Daily on Patrick Winkel, click here. 

If you're interested in watching Kyler Fedko's interview, click here. 

 

 

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[roger]

Am looking forward to listening to this later today, Seth.  Based on what you wrote, sounds like he could be a good prospect.  I believe that the most important part of any catcher's game is his defense, blocking balls, throwing out runners and managing the pitching staff.  Is he, or can he be, above average behind the plate?  Provided he can hit a little, defense should be his ticket to the 'show.'

[mac098]

Based off everything I could find, he has decent numbers. Only an 18% runner throw out rate does hurt. But I think if he can spend another offseason with some development and maybe picking up some more stuff from Conger and Jeffers, I think he will be a solid player behind the plate. 

[RJA]

I LOVE these interviews.  Another quality young man in the farm system.  One thing all these interviews have shown me is that the Twins are very good at choosing thoughtful young men of character.  And, he is a left-handed hitting catcher!  Was that the start of a stache I saw on film?  

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

2 hours ago, mac098 said:

Based off everything I could find, he has decent numbers. Only an 18% runner throw out rate does hurt. But I think if he can spend another offseason with some development and maybe picking up some more stuff from Conger and Jeffers, I think he will be a solid player behind the plate. 

18% with the two throw-over rule might not be bad anymore. We have to see how many of those SBs were off of good jumps with no threat of a pickoff attempt.