Major League debuts as Minnesota Twins – Gibson, Dyer, David, & Fosnow

Four players made their big league debut’s as Twins on June 29.

Kyle Gibson

Kyle Gibson (P) – June 29, 2013 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (22nd) of the 2009 MLB June Amateur Draft. Gibson earned a “W” in his major league debut as a starter against Kansas City with 6 inning pitched, 8 hits allowed and 2 earned runs. A “quality” start.

Mike Dyer (P) – June 29, 1989 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 1986 amateur draft (January). Player signed May 15, 1986. A tough way to start in the big leagues with a 2 inning start and 6 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks and charged with the loss.

Andre David (OF) – June 29, 1984 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 8th round of the 1980 amateur draft. A home run in his first big league at bat off Jack Morris at Tiger Stadium but sadly that would be the only home run of his short 33 game career in the majors.

Jerry Fosnow

Jerry Fosnow (P) – June 29, 1964 – Acquired from the Indians in 1960. MLB debut in relief for the Twins at Memorial Stadium in a loss to Baltimore. Fosnow pitched 2 innings allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs.

 

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

The MLB June amateur draft is far from a science

2016 DraftThe 2016 MLB will take place June 9, 2016 in Secacus, New Jersey and the Minnesota Twins will have the 17th selection this year. There are already numerous mock drafts being published but as normal they are all over the board, so what else is new. Here is a list (with pictures) on MLB.com of their proposed top 100 2016 prospects.

Baseball draft are so different from all the other sports in many ways but the two main differences that stand out is that baseball drafts are more international than other sports and if you get drafted in baseball you can look forward to spend a number of years in the minor leagues before you have the experience and necessary skill sets to play in the major leagues. Sure there have been some players that went directly to the major leagues but they are rare and the last player to do so I believe is RHP Mike Leake who was drafted eighth overall in 2010 by the Cincinnati Reds from Arizona State and now pitches for the Cardinals. The last Twins player to be drafted and go straight to a big league mound was LHP Eddie Bane who also was from Arizona State.

The June amateur draft is exciting for the fans but it is serious business for the MLB teams that have spent lots of time and money watching these young prospects as they try to determine who is the best player available when it comes time to make their selection. Mistakes in a draft can and do haunt teams for many years. There are many ways to mess up a draft choice, the player may not turn out to be as good as you thought, you might have bypassed a star player, you might not be able to sign the player, the player and/or his agent may state they don’t want to play for you, and of course an injury may cut his career short. If everything goes your way you have yourself a baseball player but the odds are stacked against you.