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Let’s look back a little bit first. Though fans suffered through all the 90-loss seasons, 2014 was when the lights started to flicker brighter and we were introduced to the first wave of prospects. Oswaldo Arcia used the season to build on a successful 2013 campaign. Danny Santana debuted and put up a ridiculous .824 OPS while stealing 20 bases. Kennys Vargas teased us with his power in a 53-game cameo. All were 23 years old.
Kyle Gibson spent his first full season in the major leagues and was a 13-game winner. Trevor May started nine games - and while he struggled - he showed fans an ability to strike hitters out with a K/9 of 8.7 in 45.2 innings.
Last season, 2015, was more of the same. We witnessed the duo of Miguel Sano, 22, and Eddie Rosario, 23, push the team to the brink of the playoffs. Sano with his power (18 home runs and an OPS of .916) and Rosario with his speed and defense (a league-leading 15 triples and 16 outfield assists).
Tyler Duffey joined the rotation, got roughed up in his debut, but was 5-0 down the stretch and the club’s best pitcher.
Also seeing time in 2015 were members of the next wave: Byron Buxton who debuting at 21, battled injuries and remained a prospect by one at-bat, Jorge Polanco, who debuted at 20, and always hits, and Max Kepler, last year’s Southern League Player of the Year, who joined the team in late-September.
Jose Berrios, who turned 22 earlier this summer, has rejoined the team (hopefully) permanently and it’s not hard to imagine that many of the pieces of the next competitive team are in place.
But who’s next?
THE POWER BATS
With Kepler firmly entrenched in right field and Buxton the future of centerfield, it would be easy to stick Rosario in left field and call it a day.
Not so fast.
Daniel Palka, 24, has 26 home runs this year between Chattanooga and Rochester. His left-handed power will play at any stadium and though he isn’t on the 40-man roster, could be a September call-up. He’s not alone. Adam Brett Walker, also 24, has 21 home runs for Rochester this year. Walker’s right-handed power will play anywhere. The catch, obviously, is that both players have a massive amount of swing-and-miss in their game. But that doesn’t mean that either (or both) should be cast aside.
Byungho Park, who had 12 home runs for the Twins before being demoted in late June, also offers a ton of power from the right-handed batter’s box, but he is limited to first base or DH in the lineup (and he’s 29 and not a prospect).
THE NEXT PIRANHAS
There will never be another set like the originals, but there’s some potential with this next wave: Zach Granite, 23, and Engelb Vielma, 22, are both hitting just shy of .300 in Chattanooga and both offer premium defense and a lot of speed. Granite has 34 walks and 34 strikeouts on the season along with 38 stolen bases. Coming into the year with a 65% success rate, Granite has improved and has been successful in 81% of his attempts this year. Vielma has battled hamstring injuries this season and only has six swipes, but he had 35 last year and we’ll see his numbers trend north as the season progresses and his legs get all the way back to 100%.
THE NEXT CATCHER
After trading for John Ryan Murphy, the future appeared set. Until Murphy forgot how to hit (worse than you can imagine with the Twins before becoming a .210/.266/.283 hitter for Rochester).
So who’s next? Mitch Garver, a 25-year-old at Chattanooga, has improved his defense and made greater strides with his bat. Garver has an OPS over .800 supported with 11 home runs. He 20% strikeout-percentage is higher than normal, but his walk-rate remains over 11%. He’s also thrown out more than 50% of would-be base-stealers on the season.
THE TURNING OF THE ROTATION
The minor-leagues contain a number of pitchers who could find time in the rotation including Jason Wheeler, a 25-year-old, who is on his way to being named the organization’s pitcher of the year with a 10-3 record between Chattanooga and Rochester and Aaron Slegers, 23, and David Hurlbut, 26, who are potential back-end arms, as well currently pitching in Chattanooga.
Recently-acquired Adalberto Mejia, 23, will make his organizational debut for Rochester tomorrow. He’s not far off and has a chance to make the Opening Day rotation next year.
Sometime later in 2017, we could be introduced to the cream of the pitching prospect crop: Stephen Gonsalves, 21, has continued to dominate every level, including AA, with a K/9 in excess of 10.0 (though he’s still walking too many), Tyler Jay, 22, started to come into his own with Fort Myers before his promotion, move to the bullpen and subsequent shut-down in Chattanooga, and Kohl Stewart, 21, who’s been an enigma but still has lots of potential. Felix Jorge, also 22, has struggled a bit since his promotion to Chattanooga, but he’s been compared to current Twin Ervin Santana.
THE POWER ARMS
We saw J.T. Chargois earlier this summer (and it wasn’t pretty), but between him and newly-acquired Pat Light, the Target Field radar gun will hit triple-digits in the top of an inning sometime yet this season. (Light did it twice for Rochester on Wednesday night, according to reports.)
2010 first-round pick Alex Wimmers, 27, doesn’t throw that hard, and neither does Trevor Hildenberger, 25, but both could make their major-league debut this year. Hildenberger was recently placed on the DL with elbow tendinitis, but no one in baseball has numbers as good as he does.
Jake Reed, 23, has bounced back with a really good 2016 after a disappointing 2015 (EDIT: According to an AL scout, Reed also hit 100 mph on the radar gun last night) and Zack Jones, 25, continues to strike batters out since his return from the Brewers (after they decided not to keep him as a Rule 5 draft pick).
Nick Burdi is another arm who throws it really hard… when healthy, which he currently isn’t.
THE RECAP
The Twins have been a lot of fun to watch these last few days. And they have plenty of young players who are making it so fun. But they have more young players knocking on the door and that makes it exciting. We’re going to see some guys get a(nother) chance before many of these prospects get their turns, but this next wave is going to be fun to watch.
Who excites you?
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