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2017 Minnesota Twins Minor League Stat Leaders

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A look at how the Twins farm system fared in 2017.

By Matt Powers
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Minor League Baseball: Arizona Fall League-Fall Stars Game
Nick Gordon
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The minor league season has come to a close. It’s a tough time of the year for those who are most interested in the future of a franchise, but the positive is that we can now sit back and dig into what happened on the field in the minors in 2017.

Note to be eligible for any non-counting stat(Batting average, on base, slugging, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts per nine) a player must have enough PA/IP. I’ve set the bar at 250 plate appearances and 65 innings pitched for starters with a 40 innings pitched for relievers.

Also all of these stats are cumulative for the 2017 season, so for example Ronald Acuña would be listed with his Florida, Mississippi, and Gwinnett stats together. Major league stats will not count, so for example Rafael Devers won’t get credit for his Boston stats. All stats are for within the organization only, so Eloy Jimenez numbers are split between the Cubs and White Sox.

Batting Average

  1. Zack Granite, AAA/High A, .340
  2. Chris Paul, High A/GCL, .320
  3. Leonardo Reginatto, AAA, .303
  4. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, .303
  5. Matt Hague, AAA, .297
  6. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, .296
  7. Edgar Corcino, AA/AAA, .292
  8. Lewin Diaz, Low A, .292
  9. LaMonte Wade, AA, .292
  10. Mitch Garver, AAA, .291

Akil Badoo was seven plate appearances from finishing second with a .323 batting average. The Twins list was one that featured many of their Top 30 prospects finishing up among the leaders in batting average.

Hits

  1. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, 149
  2. Matt Hague, AAA, 149
  3. Max Murphy, High A/AA, 144
  4. Nick Gordon, AA, 140
  5. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, 137
  6. Lewin Diaz, Low A, 136
  7. Edgar Corcino, AA/AAA, 134
  8. LaMonte Wade, AA, 124
  9. Niko Goodrum, AAA, 122
  10. Jaylin Davis, Low A/High A, 118

While Nick Gordon didn’t have a spectacular season in any way, he had a very steady and productive year in Double A.

Doubles

  1. Lewin Diaz, Low A, 33
  2. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, 31
  3. Zander Wiel, High A, 30
  4. Matt Hague, AAA, 30
  5. Nick Gordon, AA, 29
  6. Mitch Garver, AAA, 29
  7. Max Murphy, High A/AA, 29
  8. Thomas Field, AAA, 29
  9. JB Shuck, AAA, 26
  10. TJ White, AA, 26

Lewin Diaz led the organization in doubles and should start to see some of them go for homers as he develops a little more.

Triples

  1. Travis Blankenhorn, Low A, 11
  2. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, 10
  3. Nick Gordon, AA, 8
  4. Christian Cavaness, Low A, 8
  5. Yeltsin Encarnacion, DSL, 8

Travis Blankenhorn was included in a few lists and just missed on a couple more. His 11 triples was a solid number, beating out some of the guys with more speed who you may expect at the top.

Homers

  1. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, 22
  2. Brent Rooker, Elizabethton/High A, 18
  3. Mitch Garver, AAA, 17
  4. Jaylin Davis, Low A/High A, 15
  5. TJ White, AA, 14
  6. Byung Ho Park, AAA, 14
  7. Travis Blankenhorn, Low A, 13
  8. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, 13
  9. Zander Wiel, High A, 13
  10. Niko Goodrum, AAA, 13

Brent Rooker hit 18 homers in just 62 games after the Twins took the Mississippi State slugger high in the draft. Mitch Garver hit his 17 in just 88 games, while TJ White was also under 100 games. Just missing the list by one homer was Lewin Diaz, who finished the season with 12

RBI

  1. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, 78
  2. Travis Blankenhorn, Low A, 69
  3. Lewin Diaz, Low A, 68
  4. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, 67
  5. Zander Wiel, High A, 67
  6. LaMonte Wade, AA, 67

Nick Gordon was just one RBI away from joining the list with a total of 66 on the year.

Stolen Bases

  1. Tanner English, High A/AA, 35
  2. Aaron Whitefield, Low A, 33
  3. Samuel Vasquez, DSL, 26
  4. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, 20
  5. Zack Granite, AAA/High A, 18
  6. Royce Lewis, GCL/Low A, 18

Both Nick Gordon and Travis Blankenhorn tied for the top runner up, finishing with 13 steals apiece.

On Base Percentage

  1. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, .408
  2. LaMonte Wade, AA, .397
  3. Zack Granite, AAA/High A, .394
  4. Mitch Garver, AAA, .387
  5. Matt Hague, AAA, .373
  6. Chris Paul, High A/GCL, .373
  7. Leonardo Reginatto, AAA, .369
  8. Brent Rooker, Elizabethton/High A, .364
  9. Alex Perez, High A/AA, .364
  10. Max Murphy, High A/AA, .361

Had he been eligible Akil Badoo would have led the system with his .436 OBP. Royce Lewis was just 11 plate appearances from seeing his .381 OBP

Slugging Percentage

  1. Brent Rooker, Elizabethton/High A, .566
  2. Mitch Garver, AAA, .541
  3. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, .518
  4. TJ White, AA, .484
  5. Zack Granite, AAA/High A, .479
  6. Andy Wilkins, AA, .474
  7. Chris Paul, High A/GCL, .460
  8. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, .454
  9. Shane Carrier, Low A/Elizabethton, .454
  10. Lewin Diaz, Low A, .444

At .527 Akil Badoo just missed another list by not enough plate appearances. A .484 slugging percentage by Jose Miranda was just three plate appearances away from making the list. The first guy off the list was Travis Blankenhorn, with a .441 slugging percentage.

OPS

  1. Brent Rooker, Elizabethton/High A, .930
  2. Mitch Garver, AAA, .928
  3. Jonathan Rodriguez, AA/AAA, .926
  4. Zack Granite, AAA/High A, .872
  5. TJ White, AA, .842
  6. Chris Paul, High A/GCL, .833
  7. Andy Wilkins, AA, .832
  8. LaMonte Wade, AA, .805
  9. Matt Hague, AAA, .789
  10. Jermaine Palacios, Low A/High A, .788

With a .964 OPS Akil Badoo was just seven plate appearances away from leading the system from the GCL and Appy Leagues. Royce Lewis was at .788 and would have tied for the 10th spot had he come to the plate a few more times. Wander Javier was 70 plate appearances from qualifying, but posted a .855 OPS. Both Travis Blankenhorn and Lewin Diaz were narrow misses from the list.

Wins

  1. Aaron Slegers, AAA, 15
  2. Clark Beeker, Low A/High A, 12
  3. Fernando Romero, AA, 11
  4. Felix Jorge, AA/AAA, 10
  5. Dereck Rodriguez, High A/AA, 10
  6. David Hurlbut, AAA, 10

Saves

  1. John Curtiss, AA/AAA, 19
  2. Hector Lujan, Low A, 17
  3. Thomas Hackimer, Low A/High A, 13
  4. Nick Anderson, High A/AA, 11
  5. Frandy Torres, DSL, 10

The four guys at the top all had outstanding seasons overall, particularly Curtiss who made it to the big leagues.

Starter ERA

  1. Nik Turley, AA/AAA, 2.05
  2. Clark Beeker, Low A/High A, 2.63
  3. Tim Melville, AAA, 2.70
  4. Lewis Thorpe, High A/AA, 2.93
  5. Tyler Wells, Low A/GCL, 3.03

Nik Turley and Clark Beeker found themselves at the top of a bunch of lists for starters.

Reliever ERA

  1. Nick Anderson, High A/AA, 1.00
  2. John Curtiss, AA/AAA, 1.28
  3. Hector Lujan, Low A, 1.33
  4. Todd Van Steensel, AA, 1.38
  5. Andrew Vasquez, Low A/High A, 1.55

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the top three guys on this list were all in the top four in the system in saves, as the Twins minor league closers did a great job of finishing up games this year.

Starter WHIP

  1. Nik Turley, AA/AAA, 1.01
  2. Clark Beeker, Low A/High A, 1.06
  3. Cody Stashak, High A/AA/GCL, 1.06
  4. Tim Melville, AAA, 1.07
  5. Tyler Wells, Low A/GCLM, 1.12

Reliever WHIP

  1. Nick Anderson, High A/AA, 0.78
  2. Thomas Hackimer, Low A/High A, 0.85
  3. Pedro Garcia, GCL, 0.88
  4. Hector Lujan, Low A, 0.91
  5. John Curtiss, AA/AAA, 0.91

Strikeouts

  1. Nik Turley, AA/AAA, 124
  2. Sean Poppen, Low A/High A, 122
  3. Dereck Rodriguez, High A/AA, 121
  4. Fernando Romero, AA, 120
  5. Aaron Slegers, AAA, 119
  6. Stephen Gonsalves, AA/AAA, 118
  7. Felix Jorge, AA/AAA, 108
  8. Tyler Wells, Low A/GCL, 108
  9. Eduardo Del Rosario, Low A/High A, 105
  10. David Hurlbut, AAA, 103

Lewis Thorpe was just 12 strikeouts away from making the list despite only pitching 83 innings on the year.

Starter Hits Per Nine

  1. Nik Turley, AA/AAA, 6.3
  2. Tim Melville, AAA, 6.5
  3. David Fischer, High A, 7.2
  4. Lewis Thorpe, High A/AA, 7.3
  5. Tyler Wells, Low A/GCL, 7.4

Reliever Hits Per Nine

  1. John Curtiss, AA/AAA, 4.2
  2. Thomas Hackimer, Low A/High A, 4.4
  3. Pedro Garcia, GCL, 4.8
  4. Nick Anderson, High A/AA, 5.3
  5. Sam Clay, High A/AA, 5.9

Starter Walks Per Nine

  1. Clark Beeker, Low A/High A, 1.4
  2. Sean Poppen, Low A/High A, 1.6
  3. Aaron Slegers, AAA, 1.8
  4. Cody Stashak, High A/AA/GCL, 1.9
  5. Tyler Beardsley, Low A/GCL, 2.0

Reliever Walks Per Nine

  1. Hector Lujan, Low A, 1.3
  2. Drew Rucinski, AAA, 1.4
  3. Nick Anderson, High A/AA, 1.7
  4. Ryan Mason, Low A, 2.0
  5. Alex Wimmers, AAA, 2.1

Starter Strikeouts Per Nine

  1. Nik Turley, AA/AAA, 12.1
  2. Tyler Wells, Low A/GCL, 10.9
  3. Lewis Thorpe, High A/AA, 9.9
  4. Stephen Gonsalves, AA/AAA, 9.7
  5. Tim Melville, AAA, 8.6

Reliever Strikeouts Per Nine

  1. Luke Bard, AA/AAA, 13.6
  2. Michael Tonkin, AAA, 13.2
  3. Andrew Vasquez, Low A/High A, 13.2
  4. Alex Robinson, Low A/High A, 12.7
  5. John Curtiss, AA/AAA, 12.4

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