Minor League Report (8/11): Big Swings Power Surge to Win

The Turbo Tubs? A name as bad as their uniforms, ugh. At least they're not the Amarillo Sod Poodles I guess.

Aside from that, pretty nice start for Woods-Richardson as he stretches back out. Only 1 walk, and he didn't give up many hits with plenty of strikeouts. 78 pitches in 4 innings isn't good, but the 69% strike rate tells me there were probably a lot of pitches fouled off.

 

Looks like a fairly encouraging day in the minors. I definitely miss our old favorite prospects that got traded. 
 

Who are the prospects worth watching in the FCL and DSL? Is Acuña a prospect, or just a guy with a famous big bro?

The prospect list is missing some oomph and Balazovic looks like he should be dropped completely.  I had hoped for some rebound, but he continues to perform badly.    The other names just don't have that buzz now - let's hope the new pitchers bring so much excitement that we won't notice (count me a skeptic). 

Spencer Steer cranks HR for Louisville.

Cade Povich fans 8 in Oriole MiLB debute.  

Encarnacion-Strand hits his first HR for Chattanooga. 

I wonder where Julien on national prospect rankings after this year.  He was never highly touted but has done nothing but hit and shown good eye at plate walking nearly as much as striking out.  His numbers are slightly better this year than last year overall too.  I think what is hurting his prospect ranking is one he was never high on people lists, but two his lack of defense.  I is at 2nd right now and appears to not be too solid there even.  He is looking like possible low defense high offense 2nd base or shift to 1B.  He has DH 14 times at AA. His bat will get him to MLB it looks like, but his lack of defense may limit his impact.  However, if he can hit like he has at the MLB level, they will find a spot for him.  May make debut next year. 

49 minutes ago, Trov said:

I wonder where Julien on national prospect rankings after this year.  He was never highly touted but has done nothing but hit and shown good eye at plate walking nearly as much as striking out.  His numbers are slightly better this year than last year overall too.  I think what is hurting his prospect ranking is one he was never high on people lists, but two his lack of defense.  I is at 2nd right now and appears to not be too solid there even.  He is looking like possible low defense high offense 2nd base or shift to 1B.  He has DH 14 times at AA. His bat will get him to MLB it looks like, but his lack of defense may limit his impact.  However, if he can hit like he has at the MLB level, they will find a spot for him.  May make debut next year. 

Julien reminds me of Arraez when he was coming up. Arraez had an elite hit tool that made it clear he had a shot at being a good hitter in the majors, but no one seemed to really care. Primarily because his other tools weren't above average and he didn't have positive tools as a defender.

Julien to this point has an elite ability to get on base, which Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill taught us to be incredibly important to scoring runs. He also has much more pop than Arraez. But again, no one really talks about him much. It would be awesome if he had a similar path and become a successful major leaguer.

A couple of thoughts from watching a number of Saints games, especially last nights game.

Balazovic hit 99 with his fastball and had decent movement on his pitches last night. He totally hung a curveball for the two runs. Command and control will be his friend if he can harness his stuff. He looks a little emotional at times when he misses or doesn't get a call, nothing too unusual. He is a big dude and needs a ton of repetitions and side work to refine his pitches. If Balazovic can gain control and command the Twins will really have a top of the rotation pitcher, but it might take another two years.

Wallner has a large frame that hurts the ball when he connects. He has a good eye and looks like he is learning how to hit decent pitching. While he does have a great arm, Matt is a little slow to react in the outfield. He actually looks pretty athletic but clearly needs to take a ton of fly balls and line drives to improve in the field.

Finally, Michael Helman plays like he intends to get his time in MLB. He is good on both sides of an inning, playing defense and hitting with a plan.

Excluding May/June (ineffective due to injury?), SWR looks really solid this year. 2ER in 34.1IP, good for a 0.52 ERA

2 hours ago, Trov said:

is at 2nd right now and appears to not be too solid there even

Sounds like a left fielder to me.

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

The prospect list is missing some oomph and Balazovic looks like he should be dropped completely.  I had hoped for some rebound, but he continues to perform badly.  

Giving up just 2 runs in 4 innings is actually progress for Balazovic. If he makes it through the rest of the season without having to be shut down for injury it will be a win.

1 hour ago, Tibs said:

Julien reminds me of Arraez when he was coming up. Arraez had an elite hit tool that made it clear he had a shot at being a good hitter in the majors, but no one seemed to really care. Primarily because his other tools weren't above average and he didn't have positive tools as a defender.

Julien to this point has an elite ability to get on base, which Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill taught us to be incredibly important to scoring runs. He also has much more pop than Arraez. But again, no one really talks about him much. It would be awesome if he had a similar path and become a successful major leaguer.

That seems like a a fair analogy. 

Looking through his numbers at 2B the since getting drafted though, he has shown improvement (at least in FP%) every year.  While it doesn't appear to jump off the page and shout gold glove, he (at the minimum) seems to be a solid and capable defender.

Want to second what DJL44 said.  Giving up 2 runs in 4 innings, was that Balazovic's best outing this year?  It is progress, isn't it?  And although they are limiting innings, SWR has been throwing well.

And it seems like every day we are talking about Julien and Urbina.  Two kids just flat out keep hitting.  And how about that pair down in the DSL, Mercedes and Acuna.  Don't recall having a duo like that down there in a long, long time.

And sure is exciting seeing all the draft kids getting assigned to the FCL Twins.  Cannot wait to see Prielipp get his first start.

13 minutes ago, roger said:

And it seems like every day we are talking about Julien and Urbina. 

And Severino over the last month plus.

28 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I think SWR will be starting for the big league team no later than June of next year. 

I agree. He'll be on the roster and that's about when they had Cole Sands debut.