Minor League Report (9/18): DSL Twins Continue to Rake, Sabato Goes Yard Again

Wow, it has been Cedar Rapids year. One hit and win the game. Move pitchers up, trade pitchers, it doesn't matter. The new guys pitch just as well as the old. I wonder who their pitching coach is.

I know we have had some talented players come through the DSL, but it seems like a long time since they have had so many players hitting like crazy. Makes me think back to like the Rosario / Sano days IIRC.

Really trying not to get my hopes up too soon. But sure would be nice if they were dominating low A in the next two years. 

Mercedes, Rodriguez and Acuna look great.

Hitting on some of these guys would be a nice boost.

2 hours ago, Monkeypaws said:

Mercedes, Rodriguez and Acuna look great.

Hitting on some of these guys would be a nice boost.

Came here to post this.  
 

Mercedes seems like the real deal. Doing a bit of everything including stolen bases.  

Acuna struggled early but now his numbers look great.  He has a very pretty swing like his brother. 

Jose Rodriguez… I could have sworn he was a big signing but whenever I Google him, seems like just an after mention when he initially signed.  Hanging around the top of the league in Home runs.  One of the most impressive performers in the league.  Hope he can continue developing and proving my initial thought that he was a big signing.

These guys are going to be fun to follow next year and perhaps a reason why the team was more college orientated in the draft to stagger the talent a bit.

Mark Moriarty and Richard Salazar (Cedar Rapids pitching coaches) seem to have a magic touch. The DSL hitters are putting up some impressive numbers.

I am going to echo that Jose Rodriguez was not someone I was expecting to be "this" good. I can't remember anyone with that much power in the DSL.  Those guys are so young they don't usually develop power that early.  For 17 years of age he sure looks special.  As high on the top three signings as I am one thing I do know is that DSL numbers are pretty meaningless.  When they hit the FCL those numbers are likely to come way down.  Still looking good early is way better than looking lost.  We will know a lot more about those three once they hit the FCL though.

Ross with another Home Run.  I am really hoping  he can stick at short although I read that he is likely to move off of short so who knows.  At any rate if the bat is for real they will find a place for him and if he has HR power that would be an amazing find coming from a D2 school.

Cedar Rapids gets one hit and wins, 1-0, in a game that lasted 2:02 hours.  

There may be something special brewing down in the DSL.  Mercedes, 17, Acuna, 17, Rodriguez, 17, and Pena, 18 are all hitting around .300 or better.  And that's in a league that if memory serves hasn't had a lot of .300 hitters over the years, at least from the Twins teams.  Acuna hit .077 in June and now has his average up to .313 with a .818 OPS.  Mercedes OPS is .969 and Rodriguez, .989.  

9 hours ago, TwinsAce said:

I know we have had some talented players come through the DSL, but it seems like a long time since they have had so many players hitting like crazy. Makes me think back to like the Rosario / Sano days IIRC.

Really trying not to get my hopes up too soon. But sure would be nice if they were dominating low A in the next two years. 

Rosario never played in the DSL.  He was drafted and is from Puerto Rico.

Just goes to show what learning to hit with a wooden bat when you're are young can do for you....

Speaking from experience, it is a HUGE change going from aluminum to wood.

Seeing how Jose Rodriguez is performing this year, I could see a Twins lineup in a few years featuring Jose and Emmanuel Rodriquez.  Actually, they both play much better than their years which is always a good harbinger of future success.

12 hours ago, Monkeypaws said:

Mercedes, Rodriguez and Acuna look great.

Hitting on some of these guys would be a nice boost.

It would be nice if their foreign scouts could find pitchers as often as they find outfielders.

Whoa, are these DSL-ers actual prospects? Good enough to make our top 30?

5 hours ago, roger said:

Rosario never played in the DSL.  He was drafted and is from Puerto Rico.

Right - 2011 was rookie Elizabethton when he had the 21 homeruns.  That year was pretty good.  Rosario, Sano, JD Williams, Vargas, etc.

Otherwise, I really don't remember a short season hitting dominance in the past 20 years like we are currently seeing in the DSL Twins.  Especially at the DSL level.

Okay - it was bugging me too much.  I had to take a look at the rookie and summer league stats for the past 20 years.

In 2011, Elizabethton Twins hit .782 OPS as a team. (Rosario, Sano, Koch, JD Williams, Vargas, etc.)
In 2008 and 2009, they hit .823 and .808 as a team. (2008 was a bunch of names that never made it to MLB, 2009 included Danny Rams, Tyler Ladendorf, Pinto, Liddle, Dozier, Herrmann, etc.)

Meanwhile, the DSL was typically batting .600-.670 OPS as a team while GCL Twins were closer to .650-.700.

GCL in 2000 batted .751 thanks to Justin Morneau batting 1.143 in 52 games. (Also Kubel was on the team with .739.)  2008 GCL was also pretty good at .753 with Pinto & Aaron Hicks leading the way.

2014 DSL Twins batted .702 OPS. On their team, they had Lewin Diaz, Arraez, and Palacios all hitting .800 OPS or better. But their team had almost no power - Lewin Diaz had 5 of the 7 homeruns the team hit!

2017 DSL Twins finally hit .771.  Unfortunately, I don't think any of these players made top 20 lists. But the best performers were 18-20 vs. 17-18. 2018 was similar with .775 (Jeferson Morales, Victor Heredia, Luis Gomez, Luis Milla, etc.)

Jump to this year, and the DSL Twins are batting .820 OPS as a team! Rafael Cruz, Rodriguez, Mercedes, Nova, Pena, Acuna, Pena #2, etc.  (Pena #3 is only at .701.) 

Since 2006, the most homeruns hit in the DSL has been 15 in 2016 by Brian Sanchez.  Then there are 2 with 13 and a few more with 10-11.  But most years, 8-9 is tops in the league.  Oddly enough, this year there are already 4 with 10 or more home runs...makes you wonder.

I guess to summarize - We have seen some good team hitting at the rookie level, but rarely at the summer league (DSL/GCL) level.  For better or for worse, some of the best DSL years are by players who mostly topped out at low A and were older.  This year should be more encouraging given the ages (17.3 average age!) and a few more higher profile players.  Fingers crossed!

2011:

2009:

2017 DSL:

2022 DSL:

6 hours ago, Omgbenji said:

Whoa, are these DSL-ers actual prospects? Good enough to make our top 30?

Mercedes definitely is.  Acuna might be fringe.  Publications will probably wait on Acuna and Rodriguez to see success at a higher level before putting in top 30.