Seth's Preliminary Top 50: Part 1 (41-50)

Players eligible to be on this list include players who remain eligible for Rookie of the Year voting in 2016. That is to say, hitters with less than 130 at-bats and pitchers with less than 50 innings. (The list is preliminary. Following research for the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2016 - which Cody Christie, Jeremy Nygaard and I are working on - I’ll provide my final Top 30 prospects list.)

Top Prospects 41-50

#50 – Zach Granite - 23 – OF – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle

Granite was the Twins 14^th round pick in 2013 out of Seton Hall. He was limited to just 25 games in 2014 due to a couple of separate injuries. He began the 2015 season back in Cedar Rapids for 19 games during which he hit .358/.463/.463 (.925). He was promoted on May 1 to Ft. Myers where the numbers weren’t quite the same. He hit .249/.328/.304 (.632) with 10 doubles, four triples and a homer. Listed at 6-1 and 175 pounds (maybe!), Granite’s best tool is his speed. He also profiles well at the top of a batting order as he puts together very professional at-bats. Early in the season, a Twins Daily writer asked Granite whether he’s thinking double every time he hits the ball to the outfield. He responded, “I’m thinking triple out of the box.”

#49 – Mat Batts - 24 – LHP – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle

Mat Batts spent summers during college interning at Baseball America. This offseason he is writing high school football stories in North Carolina. At times during the season, he wrote for Twins Daily. He was the Twins 17^th round pick in 2014 after playing four years at UNC-Wilmington. His fastball tops out in the mid-to-upper 80s, but he has put up remarkable numbers since signing. Between the GCL, Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids in 2014, he went 4-1 with a 1.78 ERA. He began 2015 by going 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA in seven starts for the Kernels. He moved up to Ft. Myers and went 8-4 with a 2.77 ERA in 17 starts. He walks hardly anyone and despite lack of velocity, struck out 8.1 per nine innings overall this season. Listed at 5-11 and 190 pounds, Batts has a deceptive delivery and a good pitch mix to go with good command. As they frequently say, the biggest challenge will be when he gets to AA.

#48 – Keaton Steele - 23 – RHP –Cedar Rapids Kernels

Steele is another four-year college guy. After playing at Iowa Western CC, he went to Missouri where he pitched for two years (and was drafted twice). The Twins made him their eighth round pick in 2014. He pitched well at Elizabethton in 2014 out of the bullpen. He began 2015 at extended spring training, but he made 14 starts (15 appearances) for the Kernels. He went 7-4 with a 3.41 ERA. In 89.2 innings he walked just 21, though he also struck out just 60. As the Kernels got to the postseason, Steele was pitching his best.

#47 – DJ Baxendale - 24 – RHP – Chattanooga Lookouts

The Twins drafted Baxendale in the 10^th round of the 2012 draft. He signed shortly after pitching for Arkansas in the College World Series. He’s got a good fastball in the low-90s with movement. He also has a good slider. He moved up the system quickly, reaching AA New Britain by May of 2013 where he did struggle. In 2014, he struggled with the Rock Cats before moving back down to Ft. Myers. It turned out that he was injured and just didn’t fully recover the rest of the season. He pitched for Chattanooga through the 2015 season. In 21 starts (two relief outings), he went 7-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 118.1 innings. He walked 40 and struck out 92. He has started, but his stuff may play better out of the bullpen as he continues to move forward.

#46 – Levi Michael - 24 – 2B – Chattanooga Lookouts

Michael was the Twins first-round pick (30^th overall) out of UNC in Chapel Hill in 2011. He was inured that year and began his professional playing career in Ft. Myers in 2012. He played for Ft. Myers again in 2013. And he began the 2014 season in Ft. Myers. However, in 45 games with the Miracle that year, he hit .305/.375/.395 (.770) In 15 games at New Britain, he hit .340/444/.358 (.803). However, a recurring theme in his career, injury, had limited him to just 60 games. In 2015 in Chattanooga, he hit .267/.369/.434 (.804) with 12 doubles, five triples and five home runs. However, he was limited to just 63 games by injury. When healthy the last two years he has been a solid contributor. He has played almost exclusively at second base the last two years, though he played all three positions in college. His MLB career will likely be as a utility type of player, though he puts together good at-bats and could be a solid #9 hitter in the big leagues for some time. It would be nice if he could just get through a full season healthy.

#45 – Brett Lee - 25 – LHP – Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts

Lee was the Twins 10^th round pick in 2011 out of St. Petersburg College in Florida. He has been a starter since his first full season. He was an All-Star in 2014 in the Florida State League, but he missed some time with injury. He was 10-5 with a 2.46 ERA despite a 54/36 strikeout to walk ratio in 106 innings. In 2015, he began the season with six starts for the Miracle. He moved up to Chattanooga and made 16 starts for the Lookouts. He went 6-4 with a 3.10 ERA. In 134 total innings, he walked 41 and struck out just 65. He has good stuff, and twice he has had stretches of three or more starts where he completed seven or more innings. He works quickly and gets quick outs. He is pitching in Venezuela this winter.

#44 – LaMonte Wade - 21 – OF – Elizabethton Twins/Cedar Rapids Kernels

Wade was the Twins ninth-round pick in 2015 out of the University of Maryland. He fell to the ninth round, in part, because he missed significant time during his junior season with an injury. He finished the Big 10 season strong and was healthy when the Twins assigned him to Elizabethton. In 64 games with the E-Twins, he hit .312/.428/.506 (.934) with eight doubles, five triples and nine home runs. He also stole 12 bases. As impressive, he walked 46 times with just 35 strikeouts. He moved up to Cedar Rapids at the conclusion of the E-Twins season for the final four games and the Kernels playoff run to the Midwest league championship series. Wade is a great athlete with a top of the order approach at the plate. He can play centerfield, get on base and hit for some power.

#43 – Niko Goodrum - 23 – IF/OF – Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts

Goodrum was the Twins second-round draft pick out of high school in Georgia in 2010. He spent that season in the GCL before spending both 2011 and 2012 in Elizabethton. He was a very good shortstop for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2013 and in 2014, he was moved to third base in Ft. Myers. He posted a .672 OPS for the Miracle in 2014. He returned to the team for the first half of the 2015 season and posted .671 OPS in 53 games. He was promoted to Chattanooga where he hit .244/.332/.392 (.724) in 61 games. With the Lookouts, he played 15 or more games at third base, shortstop and in center field. An immensely talented athlete with great speed and middle of the field defense, it looks more and more like he will be more of a utility, role player should he get to the big leagues.

#42 – Jason Wheeler - 24 – LHP – Rochester Red Wings/Chattanooga Lookouts

Wheeler was the Twins eighth-round pick in 2011 out of Loyola Marymount. He pitched well between Ft. Myers and New Britain in 2014 and was added to the Twins 40-man roster following the season. Despite making just 12 starts at AA, and a spot start in AAA, in 2014, the Twins pushed him to AAA to start 2015. Unfortunately, he went 1-7 with a 6.58 ERA in 15 starts. The highlight was likely getting the opportunity to pitch with his brother, former big league infielder Ryan Wheeler, who was signed to a minor league deal and spent about a month with the Red Wings. Wheeler was sent back to AA where he went 4-3 with a 3.92 ERA. He was named the Southern League Championship Series MVP. Though he was removed from the 40-man roster in early September, he still has a chance.

#41 – Johan Quezada - 21 – RHP – GCL Twins

Signed by the Twins in 2012, he spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons in his home country, playing in the Dominican Summer League. In those two seasons, he posted a 6.02 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP. In 43.1 innings, he struck out 50, but he walked 74. So, how does he enter into this list? Fair question. As a 20-year-old in the GCL, he posted a pedestrian 3.38 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. However, he greatly improved his walk rate. In 21.1 innings, he gave up just 14 hits, walked 12 (still not good, but much improved) and struck out 23 batters. At 6-6 tall and a lanky build, he was frequently clocked at 97-98 mph. That kind of velocity with improved control is worth monitoring. He turned 21 after the season, so he isn’t young for his level, but he is a project signed just before he turned 18.

So what do you think of Part 1, Prospects 41-50? Next up will be prospects 31-40.