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Players eligible to be on this list include players who remain eligible for Rookie of the Year voting in 2017. 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 2017 - which Cody Christie, Jeremy Nygaard and I are working on - I’ll provide my final Top 30 prospects list.)
Top Prospects 21-25
#20 – Lachlan Wells - 19 – LHP – Cedar Rapids Kernels
The Twins signed Wells out of Australia in August of 2014. He came to the States in 2015 and pitched very well in the GCL. He went 5-2 with a 2.09 ERA in 47.1 innings. He began the 2016 season back in Extended Spring Training, but just as the short-season leagues were starting, he was promoted to Cedar Rapids. He was very good. In 12 starts, Wells went 6-4 with a 1.77 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. In 71.1 innings, he walked 16 and struck out 63. Wells works in the low-90s, has three pitches and gets good movement from a somewhat funky delivery. Wells won’t turn 20 until the end of February.
#19 – Luis Arraez - 19 – 2B – Cedar Rapids Kernels
Arraez had a solid US debut in 2015 in the GCL. He hit .306/.377/.388 (.765) with 15 doubles and a triple. He began the 2016 season in Cedar Rapids. He was just 18 years old for the first ten days of the season. He became an everyday player about a week into the season and didn’t give it up. He hit, and hit, and hit, and hit. He ended the season hitting .347/.386/.444 (.830) with 31 doubles, three triples and three home runs. Signed as a 16-year-old from Venezuela in 2013, Arraez is listed at 5-10 and 155 pounds. He weighs more than that. Arraez is a hitter. He is a solid leadoff hitter despite not taking a lot of walks. He knows the strike zone and he is able to work a lot of long at-bats. He’s not fast. He played mostly second base, but they also had him DH quite frequently. He’s got work to do, but he can hit.
#18 – Jake Reed - 24 – RH RP – Chattanooga Lookouts/Rochester Red Wings
Jake Reed was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2014 out of Oregon. His pro debut was very impressive. He gave up one earned run in 31 innings. He then went to the Arizona Fall League where he gave up one run in 12.2 innings. He skipped Ft. Myers to start the 2015 season, but late in the year, he was sent back to the Miracle where he found things again. He returned to the AFL and gave up zero runs over 10.2 innings. He was invited to big league spring training and started in Chattanooga again. He struggled for the season’s first two months, but he posted WHIP under 1.00 the final three months of the year. He spent August in AAA Rochester where he posted a 1.69 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Reed throws hard, hitting 98 often. He’s got a very sharp slider. He also gets a ton of movement which sometimes can lead to some walks, and some strikeouts. Reed just turned 24 last week. He should be invited to big league camp again this year with an opportunity to make his debut sometime in 2017.
#17 – Adam Brett Walker - 24 – OF – Rochester Red Wings
No prospect in recent years has given readers of Twins Daily more to discuss. Walker has become a polarizing talent in the system. And there is no question that he has talent. The Twins used their third-round pick in 2012 on the slugger from Jacksonville University. There is the bad, for sure. He strikes out a lot and isn’t a great defensive outfielder. However, he has continued to move up one level each year and continued to produce despite the strikeouts. However, there is the good too. Walker has as much power as anyone in the organization, big leagues or minor leagues. He led his league in home runs his first four minor league seasons. His 27 homers in AAA this year was good for second in the International League. He is a run producer. He will most likely spend a significant amount of time in Rochester again in 2017. Over the first three months, he struck out 42% of the time. After July 1, he struck out 34% of the time. Staying at the same level, will he be able to continue adjusting and reduce that percentage even more?
#16 – Mitch Garver - 25 – C/1B – Chattanooga Lookouts/Rochester Red Wings
Garver was the Twins ninth-round draft pick in 2014 out of New Mexico. In his first full season, he was the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year in 2014 in Cedar Rapids. He moved up to Ft. Myers for 2015. He hit very well in the Arizona Fall League a year ago. For the second straight year, he was brought to big league spring training. He began 2016 in Chattanooga where he hit .257/.334/.419 (.753) with 25 doubles, 11 homers and 66 RBI in 95 games. He was promoted to Rochester where he hit .329/.381/.434 (.815) with five doubles and a homer in 22 games. Garver is a solid, doubles hitter who could provide value as a catcher. The question with some earlier in his career was his defense. It was a work-in-progress early, but word started coming out in 2016 that his defense had improved to the point where there was much more comfort in his ability to catch in the big leagues. His pitching framing and caught-stealing percentage numbers were very strong in 2016. He heads back to the Arizona Fall League, and he is certain to be added to the Twins 40-man roster in November. He’ll head back to big league spring training and, pending free agent moves or trades, he will have a chance to be a big leaguer early in 2017, if not on Opening Day.
So there you have it, my choices for Twins prospects 16-20. We’ll be back tomorrow with Part 6, Prospects 11-15.
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