Twins Minor League Report (6/9): Festa Fancy in Start, Steer Walks it Off

Fear the Steer. What an ending! He is this year's Miranda. Almost want to trade Polanco for Montas and call up Steer but neither team would probably do that.

The pitching lineup for Friday looks really strong.  Winder, Varland, Headrick, and Adams. 

Great start for Ryan, just wondering why he was scheduled to pitch only 3.0 innings?  Hopefully, he is back with the Twins come Tuesday.  Then get Winder back on Wednesday and this starting rotation will look soooo much better when Gray also returns...Gray, Ryan, Winder, Archer and Smeltzer, until Ober returns.

Just don't know what to think about Steer.  Is he really this good?  Is he really this year's Miranda?  Biggest problem may be...where will he play on the Twins?  Does that set him up to be a prime candidate to be included in an important July trade?

Steer had 8 HRs in 156 ABs at AA and 8 HRs in 79 ABs at AAA.  He was raking at AA and his OPS is 100 pts higher in AAA.   I guess he was ready for the promotion.  

So far Festa's numbers aren't that much different than when he was in low A.  His ERA and WHIP are slightly elevated and only his K rate has gone down fairly significantly but is still good. If he can keep this up I have to believe he can make it to three levels in his first year.

Nice to see St Paul with the big comeback.  Steer has a little of that Rosario not afraid of big moments in him.

Tough night pretty much all around for the hitters in the affiliates. A big weekend coming up hope they win them all.

I have many questions about encarnacion -Strand and Steers.  
 

How legitimate of prospects have they become? Both have put up eye popping numbers.  How is there defensive grades?  How do both stack up to say Miranda.

Is Encarnacion - Strand going to be moving to Witchita soon if not why?

2 hours ago, Dman said:

So far Festa's numbers aren't that much different than when he was in low A.  His ERA and WHIP are slightly elevated and only his K rate has gone down fairly significantly but is still good. If he can keep this up I have to believe he can make it to three levels in his first year.

Nice to see St Paul with the big comeback.  Steer has a little of that Rosario not afraid of big moments in him.

I'd have to concur on Festa being able to make AAA if needed this year, but I have a strong feeling though that he finishes the year at Wichita.  Not because of lack of ability, but rather I believe, because the FO doesn't need him to reach AAA just yet.

Also concur on Steer.  He's just a baseball "dude".  Loving his grinder mentality.

1 hour ago, High heat said:

I have many questions about encarnacion -Strand and Steers.  
 

How legitimate of prospects have they become? Both have put up eye popping numbers.  How is there defensive grades?  How do both stack up to say Miranda.

 

Is Encarnacion - Strand going to be moving to Witchita soon if not why?

Miranda / CES & Steer all have roughly the same Milb OPS.  Miranda's K rate was around 15% the other two around 25%.  Steer is the best defender and more versatile defender.   Of course, Miranda and Steer are proven at the AAA level and CES is earlier in the process and only reached high A.

5 minutes ago, MN_ExPat said:

I'd have to concur on Festa being able to make AAA if needed this year, but I have a strong feeling though that he finishes the year at Wichita.  Not because of lack of ability, but rather I believe, because the FO doesn't need him to reach AAA just yet.

Also concur on Steer.  He's just a baseball "dude".  Loving his grinder mentality.

I agree AA is the limit but that would be three levels.  Low A, High A and AA.  Not enough time for him to hit AAA barley enough to get AA if he makes it.

44 minutes ago, Dman said:

I agree AA is the limit but that would be three levels.  Low A, High A and AA.  Not enough time for him to hit AAA barley enough to get AA if he makes it.

? ?

In my defense I went to public school and was left alone unsupervised. 

45 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

What does that mean, they don't need him to reach AAA this year? If he's ready, he should be there. It isn't like AAA is filled with players right now. Also, isn't AA three levels?

Poorly worded perhaps... There's no need to rush him along.

2 hours ago, High heat said:

I have many questions about encarnacion -Strand and Steers.  
 

How legitimate of prospects have they become? Both have put up eye popping numbers.  How is there defensive grades?  How do both stack up to say Miranda.

 

Is Encarnacion - Strand going to be moving to Witchita soon if not why?

CES is most likely destined for 1B.  Don't want to pigeonhole him but he's not been good at 3B this year.

Steer definitely has legitimate defensive versatility with hopefully averagish defense at 3B and 2B but probably not more than an emergency SS. 

So CES probably worse defender than Miranda and Steer hopefully better. Steer probably ought to be a borderline top 100 guy now and I think CES is still a tier below that, but borderline top 10 in the system.

Steer's combination of low K and big power numbers are so far actually quite reminiscent of Miranda's breakout last year.  The K rate is still a bit higher than Miranda's last year.  Steer has had a bit more swing and miss in his overall track record as well, probably in large part during periods when he was making swing adjustments to gain power, but I expect he'll have a bit more swing and miss long term also. 

I also wonder a little bit about ball changes in AA and just the overall high offensive environments in those leagues.  OPS is already up .035 points leaguewide in the Texas League. And though it is basically unchanged from last year in the International League, I think it probably usually increases throughout the summer.  Not to discount Steer's numbers too much, he's definitely dominated both leagues, but I wonder if he'll really be a masher in the majors or more of just a solid power guy.

3 hours ago, Dman said:

So far Festa's numbers aren't that much different than when he was in low A.  His ERA and WHIP are slightly elevated and only his K rate has gone down fairly significantly but is still good. If he can keep this up I have to believe he can make it to three levels in his first year.

There are 2 college draftee pitchers in Cedar Rapids right now who just turned 22 before the start of the season who should probably be in AA before the end of the year: Povich and Festa.  If either of them were to get even a cup of coffee next year then they would debut before their 24th birthdays.

Here's a trivia question, who was the last college pitcher (4-year, not JuCo) to debut for the Twins prior to their 24th birthday?

56 minutes ago, 2wins87 said:

CES is most likely destined for 1B.  Don't want to pigeonhole him but he's not been good at 3B this year.

Steer definitely has legitimate defensive versatility with hopefully averagish defense at 3B and 2B but probably not more than an emergency SS. 

So CES probably worse defender than Miranda and Steer hopefully better. Steer probably ought to be a borderline top 100 guy now and I think CES is still a tier below that, but borderline top 10 in the system.

Steer's combination of low K and big power numbers are so far actually quite reminiscent of Miranda's breakout last year.  The K rate is still a bit higher than Miranda's last year.  Steer has had a bit more swing and miss in his overall track record as well, probably in large part during periods when he was making swing adjustments to gain power, but I expect he'll have a bit more swing and miss long term also. 

I also wonder a little bit about ball changes in AA and just the overall high offensive environments in those leagues.  OPS is already up .035 points leaguewide in the Texas League. And though it is basically unchanged from last year in the International League, I think it probably usually increases throughout the summer.  Not to discount Steer's numbers too much, he's definitely dominated both leagues, but I wonder if he'll really be a masher in the majors or more of just a solid power guy.

 

How would you compare Steers defensively to Martin? (Played together in Wichita) 

how about overall value at this point between Martin, Steers and Miranda.  

Miranda is currently kn the 40 man and has show he can hit major league pitching doesn’t have great plate discipline and isn’t great defensively at 3rd or 1st and you have Urshela and Arraez at 1st and 3rd and the twins seem to prefer that. 
 

Martin on a down year isn’t hitting as well and no power along with proving he can’t really play SS.  He does have good speed and contact skills and can steal bases. 
 

Steers putting up big numbers at both AAA and double AA.  Kind of seems to have some Brian Dozier in him.
 

5 minutes ago, High heat said:

How would you compare Steers defensively to Martin? (Played together in Wichita) 

how about overall value at this point between Martin, Steers and Miranda.  

Miranda is currently kn the 40 man and has show he can hit major league pitching doesn’t have great plate discipline and isn’t great defensively at 3rd or 1st and you have Urshela and Arraez at 1st and 3rd and the twins seem to prefer that. 
 

Martin on a down year isn’t hitting as well and no power along with proving he can’t really play SS.  He does have good speed and contact skills and can steal bases. 
 

Steers putting up big numbers at both AAA and double AA.  Kind of seems to have some Brian Dozier in him.
 

 

 

Martin is faster and has more explosive athleticism.  The potential is there to be a very rangy infielder.  He has really lacked consistency so far though.  I think the best bet might be moving to second base which might cut down enough on throwing errors.

Steer is more consistent, basically doing everything pretty well but without premium athleticism.

So they are different types.  Martin has the higher ceiling but I could see him kind of being like Jorge Polanco where the inconsistency just limits his defensive upside.

Personally I really like Miranda so I'd still have him a tier above Martin and Steer.  I think he's going to flat out hit. He's got a big strong build and a really good natural knack for making contact.

It is a shame that the Wind Surge bats wasted Festa's strong outing - led by Sabato continuing his Sano impersonation (0-4 with 3 K's)

Also lover seeing Ryan back on the bump.  The Twins need him desperately.