The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A pitcher Wichita Pierson Ohl and High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week 18.
Pierson Ohl was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ). Reports have Ohl receiving a signing bonus of $100,000 to sign with Minnesota. According to Twins Daily, Ohl’s pre-draft scouting report cited a fastball that operated in the high 80s and low 90s, with plus command. Ohl, a 6’1″ right-hander carries a curve-ball and an above-average change-up which serves as his best secondary offering.
Ohl, 23, made one start for the Wind Surge on Wednesday vs. Tulsa, pitching 6.0 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts, earning the win. Ohl started the season with Cedar Rapids and moved up to Wichita in early June. Ohl is pitching better in Wichita than he did with Cedar Rapids. In AA Wichita Ohl has a 3-3 record in seven starts. He has allowed 41 hits in 46 innings while striking out 43 batters. His 1.087 WHIP indicates the good control he has.
Emmanuel Rodriguez a Santiago, Dominican Republic native was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2019. Rodriguez was a top 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 international prospects list for 2019-20 when the signing period opened up in July of 2019. The Twins were all in, giving the toolsy outfielder $2.75 million to sign. MLB Pipeline currently has Rodriguez rated as the 56th best prospect overall and has Rodriguez as the Twins 2nd best prospect. You can learn more about Rodriguez here. Rodriguez has won this award twice earlier this season. He seems to be another in the long line of Twins left-handed sluggers.
Rodriguez, 20, played in four games for the Kernels, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with three home runs, six RBI, four walks, a .474 on-base percentage, a .933 slugging percentage and a 1.407 OPS. The down side Rodriguez continues to show his his propensity to strike out. This season he has struck out 102 times in 267 AB’s. His slash line this year is .225/.291/.446.