Week 11 has the Minnesota Twins naming AAA St. Paul outfielder Brent Rooker and AA Wichita right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic as their minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
The Twins obviously wanted Brent Rooker badly, they drafted him in the 38th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Mississippi State University and then drafted him again in the 1st round (35th) of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft from Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, MS). MLB Pipeline currently has Rooker ranked as the Twins tenth best prospect.
The 29-year-old Rooker played in seven games for the Saints this week hitting .308 (8-for-26) with one double,
five home runs, 13 RBI and a 1.290 OPS. He hit three home runs and drove in seven on Tuesday against Columbus. Rooker appeared in 8 games with the Twins earlier this season and in 7 games with Minnesota in 2020 but is considered a defensive liability and is best suited for a DH role. Rooker has hit 19 home runs for the St. Paul this year.
Jordan Balazovic, a repeat winner of the Twins POW this season was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from St. Martin SS (Mississauga, ON). MLB Pipeline currently has Balazovic rated as the Twins second best prospect. Goes to show that with good scouting, gems can be found in later rounds of the draft.
Still just 22, Balazovic started two games for the Wind Surge this past week going 1-0, 0.00 ERA (13.0 IP) with six hits allowed, one walk and 18 strikeouts. The big (6’5″) right-hander fanned 11 batters in 7.0 innings on Thursday against Tulsa. This season Balazovic is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.098 WHIP in 37.1 innings in 8 starts and had gone 5 or more innings in each of his last three starts.