In week three the Twins minor league position player of the week is outfielder Matt Wallner. Wallner a Minnesota native born in Forest Lake was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Forest Lake HS (Forest Lake, MN) but chose not to sign. The 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Wallner was the Pioneer Press’ 2016 East Metro Player of the Year. The Minnesota Twins upped the ante and drafted him again, this time in the 1st round (39th) of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS). Wallner, a left-handed batter grew up a Twins fans and did some pitching in college but always wanted to be on the hitting side of the ball. The Twins took Wallner with a pick in Competitive Balance Round A by virtue of being in either one of the 10 smallest markets or 10 smallest revenue pools, which thereby gave them an additional pick at the end of the first round. According to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, Wallner received a signing bonus of $1.8 million just under the $1.9 million slot value.
In his first season in pro ball Wallner played at rookie league Elizabethton and briefly at Low A ball with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. With no MiLB in 2020, Wallner started 2021 with Cedar Rapids again but this time as a High-A ball Kernel. This past week Wallner played in six games hitting .400 (10-for-25) with one double, one triple, two home runs and four RBI, including a four-hit game on Thursday versus Beloit. Wallner is off to a nice start hitting .333 with four home runs and 14 RBI over 17 games this season.
The Twins minor league pitcher of the week is Texas native right-handed pitcher Matt Canterino. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Rice University (Houston, TX). Canterino started his pro career with the rookie Twins Gulf team in 2019 before jumping up to the Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. 2021 finds him with the High-A Cedar Raids team.
Canterino, 23, made two starts for Cedar Rapids this past week, going 1-0, 1.64 ERA (11.0 IP, 2 ER) with one walk and 19 strikeouts, including a 10-strikeout game on Friday versus Beloit.