2016 Chattanooga Lookouts Roster Revealed

THE COACHING STAFF

Fans have been spoiled by Doug Mientkiewicz, who enters his fourth year managing in the Twins system. Mientkiewicz has led his team to the playoffs in all three of his seasons, including a Florida State League Championship with Fort Myers in 2014 and a Southern League Championship last year in his first season in Chattanooga. Mientkiewicz remains best known for the seven years he spent with the Minnesota Twins (1998-2004). Tommy Watkins joins the Lookouts as the hitting coach after spending the previous six years in the same capacity in Cedar Rapids. Ivan Arteaga has been working with Twins pitchers since 2001. He will begin his first year in Chattanooga after bouncing between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids the previous three years. He’ll have the opportunity to work with some pitchers for the third consecutive season.

THE ROSTER

*Spent time with Lookouts in 2015

Last year’s roster included top offensive prospects such as Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco. The pitching staff featured Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey. Those names have all moved on, but there are still a number of highly regarded prospects, with a number of them being found in the bullpen.

PROJECTED ROTATION (listed alphabetically):

P DJ Baxendale*

P Ryan Eades

LP David Hurlbut*

LP Brett Lee*

P Aaron Slegers*

P Jason Wheeler*

This sextet has a ton of AA experience, starting 70 games for the Lookouts last year. In fact, DJ Baxendale led the 2015 squad in both games started and innings pitched. David Hurlbut, who along with Jason Wheeler, appeared in AAA as well, led the team in wins (11). Brett Lee had the lowest ERA (3.10) and WHIP (1.192) of any of the returning starters. Aaron Slegers, the youngest of the six, joined the Lookouts for a half dozen starts late in the year. Ryan Eades will be the lone member of the rotation without AA experience.

PROJECTED BULLPEN:

P Jason Adam

P Nick Burdi*

P JT Chargois*

LP Mason Melotakis

P Brandon Peterson*

P Jake Reed*

LP Mike Strong

P Marcus Walden

LP Corey Williams*

P Alex Wimmers*

Nick Burdi headlines this group of prospects, but it will be a couple of weeks (minimum) before he is throwing in games after coming down with some soreness in his right (throwing) forearm. JT Chargois is expected to assume the closer role, as he led the Lookouts with 11 saves last year. Mason Melotakis returns after missing 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. Jake Reed was demoted after struggling in his Chattanooga debut, but is back and ready to return to his dominant form after getting back on track in the Arizona Fall League. Former first-rounder Alex Wimmers is back in the bullpen after starting 18 games for the Lookouts and being second on the team in innings pitched (115.1). Wimmers was one of the last pitchers moved as pitchers were being sent down from the Twins roster.

PROJECTED LINEUP:

SS Engelb Vielma

2B Levi Michael*

RF Daniel Palka

1B DJ Hicks*

LF Travis Harrison*

DH/C Mitch Garver

C Stuart Turner*

3B Niko Goodrum*

CF Shannon Wilkerson*

PROJECTED BENCH:

C Carlos Paulino*

C Jairo Rodriguez*

3B Leonardo Reginatto

OF Zack Granite

OF Joe Maloney

INF Aderlling Mejia* (DL)

All eyes - at least early - will be on the powerful bat of Daniel Palka. Can he put balls in the seat like Adam Brett Walker did last year? Engelb Vielma, the youngest position player by nearly two years, could play shortstop right now for the Twins, but will he hit enough? Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, who teamed up in the Arizona Fall League, will be professional teammates for the first time for a Twins affiliate. It will be interesting to see not only how they split up time behind the plate, but also additional at-bats, whether that be at DH or 1B, potentially. The experience of Levi Michael, Niko Goodrum, DJ Hicks and Travis Harrison will be leaned upon heavily. How many league titles have those guys won?

THE PROSPECTS

Though many of the highest-rated prospects have moved on, there are still plenty on the Chattanooga roster.

Here is a quick look at which Lookouts found their names in a variety of Twins Prospect Rankings.

Twins Prospect Rankings

Twins Daily Top 10: Burdi (10)

Seth Stohs Top 30: Burdi (7), Chargois (12), Vielma (15), Reed (18), Turner (23), Garver (24), Palka (25), Slegers (28), Harrison (30)

Jeremy Nygaard Top 30: Burdi (13), VIelma (16), Chargois (17), Turner (22), Garver (24), Harrison (28)

Cody Christie Top 30: Burdi (14), Vielma (16), Turner (18), Harrison (23), Chargois (24), Goodrum (25), Melotakis (27), Reed (30)

Nick Nelson Top 10: Burdi (10)

Steve Buhr Top 15: Vielma (9), Burdi (12), Reed (13), Chargois (15)

Baseball America Top 31: Burdi (10), Chargois (15), Turner (16), Vielma (18), Reed (20), Melotakis (28)

FanGraphs Top 25: Chargois (11), Burdi (14), Vielma (19), Turner (20), Melotakis (21), Garver (23), Eades (24)

Keith Law Top 20: Burdi (9), Reed (11), Melotakis (19)

John Sickels Top 20: Burdi (10), Turner (14), Chargois (15), Harrison (16), Eades (18)

Aaron Gleeman Top 40: Burdi (9), Peterson (15), Chargois (17), Vielma (18), Slegers (21), Reed (24), Eades (30), Garver (31), Melotakis (32), Turner (33), Harrison (35), Palka (37)

Ted Schwerzler Top 15: Burdi (9), Chargois (13), Reed (15)

MLB.com Top 30: Burdi (9), Chargois (10), Reed (16), Vielma (17), Melotakis (20), Turner (23), Harrison (24), Palka (29)

Baseball Essentials Top 20: Burdi (9), Chargois (13), Harrison (15), Palka (18), Vielma (19), Turner (20)

PREDICTIONS

First Hitter Promoted to Rochester: 1.) Travis Harrison, 2.) Levi Michael

First Starting Pitcher Promoted to Rochester: 1.) D.J. Baxendale, 2a.) Brett Lee, 2b.) Jason Wheeler

First Relief Pitcher Promoted to Rochester: 1.) Alex Wimmers, 2.) JT Chargois

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