Twins first round draft history since 2000

2015 DraftThe 2015 MLB draft will take place June 8-10 and the Minnesota Twins will have the sixth overall selection in this years draft. The draft, now in its 50th year is always fun and full of hype, of course it differs greatly in many ways from the NFL and NBA drafts where players chosen could be playing for their professional team the following season. In baseball the drafted players, even the so-called can’t miss prospects are headed for the minor leagues where they will have to sharpen their skills and earn their stripes before they get the opportunity to put on a big league uniform.

The Twins have a number of fine young prospects in the minor leagues and we fans are clamoring to see them put on a Twins uniform and show us their stuff here at Target Field. But until these players reach the big leagues and show that they can play ball with the big boys they are just prospects and nothing more. They have promise but we all know that promises are not always kept.

Over the last 15 years from 2000 through 2014 the Minnesota Twins have had a total of 28 first round selections,  15 are the first round picks themselves, 10 picks have been supplemental picks and 3 have been compensation picks. Looking at the “normal” Twins first round picks, their highest pick was number one over all in 2001 when they selected catcher Joe Mauer (debuted with the Twins in April 2004) who as we all know is the Twins starting first baseman today. Their lowest first round pick was number 30 in 2011 and that was Levi Michael who is playing in AA ball.

The most recent Twins first round pick to make his debut with Minnesota is RHP Kyle Gibson who was drafted in 2009 as the 22nd overall pick and debuted with Minnesota in June of 2013.

Of the 10 supplemental picks, only one player made his debut in a Minnesota uniform and that was 2004 supplemental pick RHP Matt Fox and his career with Minnesota lasted one game and 5.2 innings during his big league debut on September 3, 2010. There are several supplemental picks playing in the Twins minor league system that have a shot at the big leagues and Jose Berrios is probably the leader of that pack.

The three compensation picks by the Twins were Carlos Gutierrez in 2008 27th overall pick (for loss of Torii Hunter) but the Twins let him go after the 2012 season and he never reached the majors. The other two compensations picks were both in 2004, LHP Glen Perkins was picked 22nd overall (for the loss of Eddie Guardado) and he debuted in September 2006 and is the Twins closer today. Kyle Waldrop was picked 25th overall that same year but did not make his debut with Minnesota until September 2011 and his stay in Minnesota lasted a total of 24 games between 2011-2012.

History of Twins first round selections from 2000 – 2014

2014 – Nick Gordon (shortstop) is playing in Low A Cedar Rapids. Picked 5th overall round 1.

2013 – Kohl Stewart (RHP) is pitching in High A Ft. Myers. His career record is 4-8 in with a 2.66 ERA in 33 games. Picked 4th overall round 1.

2012 – Byron Buxton (outfielder) is playing in AA Chattanooga. Injured most of 2014. Career average of .291 with 27 home runs and 85 stolen bases in 253 games. Picked 2nd overall round 1.

2012 – Jose Berrios (RHP) is pitching in AA Chattanooga and has one AAA game to his credit. His career record is 28-17 with a 3.01 ERA in 65 games. Picked 32nd overall as a 1st round supplemental pick for loss of FA Michael Cuddyer.

2012 – Luke Bard (RHP) is pitching in Low A Cedar Rapids. Has had injury issues, never appearing in more than 12 games in any season and missed all of 2014.  His career record is 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA in 23 games and a total of 25.1 innings. Picked 42nd overall as a 1st round supplemental pick for loss of FA Jason Kubel.

2011 – Levi Michael (shortstop) is playing in AA Chattanooga. Career average of .256 with 9 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 294 games. Picked 30th overall in round 1.

2011 – Travis Harrison (3B but moved to outfield) is playing in AA Chattanooga. Career average of .270 with 26 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 366 games. Picked 50th overall as a 1st round supplemental pick for loss of FA Orlando Hudson.

2011 – Hudson Boyd (RHP) is currently under a 50 game suspension but pitched in Low A Cedar Rapids in 2014. Boyd who also has had weight problems has been suspended three times by MLB or the Twins in his short professional career. His career record is 10-14 with a 4.27 ERA in 86 games and 219 innings. Pitched strictly in relief in 2014. Picked 55th overall as a 1st round supplemental pick for loss of FA Jesse Crain.

2010 – Alex Wimmers (RHP) is pitching at AA Chattanooga.  His career record is 10-9 in with a 4.62 ERA in 65 games. Has battled control  issues. Picked 21st overall round 1.

Kyle Gibson 20152009 – Kyle Gibson (RHP) is part of the Twins starting rotation and made his big league debut June 29, 2013 making him the most recent first round selection to put on a Twins uniform. His career mark in Minnesota is 19-19 with a 4.33 ERA in 51 starts. Picked 22nd overall round 1.

2009 – Matt Bashore (LHP) is no longer in baseball. Twins released him after the 2011 season and he never reached the majors. Pitched in rookie league Elizabethton in 2009, missed 2010 due to injury, pitched in Elizabethton again in 2011 and had a career record of 0-0 with a 3.24 ERA.

2008 – Aaron Hicks (outfielder) is currently with the Twins but has been up and down since his debut on April 1, 2013. Hicks has a career average in Minnesota of .207 with 10 home runs and 17 stolen bases in 168 games but so far his biggest asset has been his glove in center field. Has 594 minor league games under his belt. Picked 14th overall round 1.

2008 – Carlos Gutierrez (RHP) is no longer in baseball. Twins released him after the 2012 season and he never reached the majors although he pitched as high as AAA. A compensation pick from the Angels 27th overall in round 1 for loss of Torii Hunter.

2008 – Shooter Hunt (RHP) is no longer in baseball. Twins released him after the 2011 season. Hunt had serious control issues and had a career record of 4-14 with a 6.85 ERA and 236 walks in 193 innings to go along with his 219 KO’s. Picked 31st overall in round 1 as supplemental pick for loss of FA Torii Hunter.

2007 – Ben Revere (outfielder) is currently with the Phillies after the Twins traded him after the 2012 season. Revere made his big league debut September 7, 2010 and he has a career big league average of .288 in over 500 games. Picked 28th overall in round 1.

2006 – Chris Parmelee (outfielder) is currently in the Orioles system after the Twins let him become a free agent after the 2014 season. Parmelee made his big league debut on September 6, 2011. Parmelee played in 273 games for the Twins hitting .249 with 24 home runs and one stolen base in 901 PA’s. Picked 20th overall in round 1.

2005 – Matt Garza (RHP) is currently pitching for the Brewers. Garza made his big league debut with the Twins on August 11, 2006 and was traded to the Rays after the 2007 season. After Tampa he went to the Cubs, Rangers and on to the Brewers. In his 10 big league seasons he is 78-82 with a 3.89 ERA in 228 starts. Picked 25th overall in round 1.

2005 – Hank Sanchez (1B) – never got above A ball and was let go after the 2009 season after posting a .207 career average.  Picked 39th overall in round 1 as supplemental pick for loss of FA Corey Koskie.

2004 – Trevor Plouffe (shortstop) is currently the Twins 3B. Plouffe made his big league debut on May 21, 2010. Plouffe has a career average of .248 with 70 home runs and 8 stolen bases. Picked 20th overall in round 1.

2004 – Glen Perkins (LHP) is currently the Twins closer. Perkins made his major league debut on September 21, 2006. Perkins has 108 saves and was an All-Star in 2013 and 2014. Picked 22nd overall in round 1 as a compensation pick for loss of FA Eddie Guardado.

2004 – Kyle Waldrop (RHP) is currently out of baseball but made his big league debut with Minnesota on September 5, 2011. Waldrop’s big league career consisted of 24 games in 2011-2012 as a Twin and he put up a 1-1 record with a 3.62 ERA in 32.1 innings. Waldrop was granted free agency after 2012 but never returned to the majors. Picked 25th overall in round 1 as a compensation pick for loss of FA LaTroy Hawkins.

2004 – Matt Fox (RHP) has been out of baseball since 2013. Fox made his big league debut with Minnesota on September 3, 2010. Fox started the game and pitched 5.2 innings and gave up 2 earned runs. Just 6 days later the Red Sox picked him up on waivers and he appeared in 3 games with the Red Sox and his major league career was over with a 0-0 record and a 4.91 ERA. Picked 35th overall in round 1 as supplemental pick for loss of FA Eddie Guardado.

2004 – Jay Rainville (RHP) never reached the big leagues and last pitched in AA ball for the Twins in 2009. Picked 39th overall in round 1 as supplemental pick for loss of FA LaTroy Hawkins.

2003 – Matt Moses (3B) never reached the big leagues and peaked out in AAA. The Twins cut ties with Moses after the 2009 season. Moses had a career average of .249 but struck out 471 times in 2,184 at bats. Picked 21st overall in round 1.

2002 – Denard Span (outfielder) is currently with the Nationals. Span made his big league debut as a Minnesota Twin on April 6, 2008. The Twins traded him to the Nats after the 2012 season. Span has played in over 900 big league games and has a career hitting average of .287 with 144 stolen bases and 37 home runs. Span has the second highest career WAR (24.1) of any Twins player drafted in round 1 from 2000-2014.Picked 20th overall in round 1.

Joe Mauer 20152001 – Joe Mauer (catcher) is now the Twins first baseman. Mauer debuted with the Twins on April 5, 2004. Mauer has the highest career WAR (46.1) of any Twins player drafted in round 1 from 2000-2014. Mauer was MVP in 2008, an All-Star in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. Mauer won silver slugger awards for his play in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013 and took home the Gold Glove in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Picked first overall in round 1.

2000 – Adam Johnson (RHP) is out of baseball and last pitched in an independent league in 2009. Johnson debuted with the Twins on July 16, 2001 and his entire big league career consisted of 7 games and 26.1 innings during 2001 and 2003 in which he was 1-3 and had a 10.25 ERA, 40 hits and 17 walks didn’t help his cause. Picked second overall in round 1.

2000 – Aaron Heilman (RHP) chose not to sign with Minnesota and continued to play for Notre Dame. Picked 31st overall in round 1 as supplemental pick for loss of FA Mike Trombley.

No sure thing

Such is the life of 28 Twins first round selections from 2000-2014. First round selections are expected to be sure things, players that will become All-Stars, players you build your team around, as you can see that is frequently not the case for the Twins. As you can see above, unless you are a pitcher or someone who goes by the name of Mauer, the path to the big leagues, even for a first round pick takes time, lots of time.

12 (43%) – Debuted and played at least one game in a Twins uniform. Only two of these players (Mauer and Perkins) were ever named to the All-Star team and these two players were drafted more than 10 years ago.

9 (32%) – Are still playing in the minor league system hoping to get the call to Minnesota

6 (21%) – Are out of baseball and never reached the big leagues

1 (4%) – Didn’t sign

2015 Draft

So enjoy the up-coming 2015 draft but don’t count on seeing that player in a Minnesota Twins uniform in the near future or at all. Fifteen years of Twins first round selections tell us that less than half the first round picks put on a big league uniform and that the super stars even in round one are few and far between.

Stop on back in the next day or two because I hope to do a piece on how the Twins first round selections from 2000-2014 compare to the rest of MLB.

According to ELIAS

Twins overcome early deficit for late win at Fenway

The Twins, who trailed 4-0 early, scored four runs off Koji Uehara in the ninth inning to gain an 8-4 victory at Boston yesterday and split the four game series. It was the first time in Uehara’s 314 major-league appearances that he allowed even one run and failed to retire a batter.

This was Minnesota’s 825th game at Fenway Park, including 523 as the Washington Senators from 1912 to 1960. It was only the second of those games in which the Senators or Twins won by at least four runs after the Red Sox had taken a lead of four or more runs. The first was in 2003 and, for what it’s worth, Minnesota faced knuckleballers in both games: Tim Wakefield 12 years ago and Steven Wright yesterday. Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Glen Perkins 2015Glen Perkins notched his 19th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the Twins’ 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays on the final day of May. Perkins registered 13 saves during May to establish a club record for saves in one calendar month. He matched the highest save total in one month for any pitcher in the last five seasons (Aroldis Chapman in July 2012) and he fell one shy of the single-season major-league record for saves during the month of May (14 by Cincinnati’s Danny Graves in 2004).

Twins minor league player of the week

Credit: Linwood Ferguson - Fort Myers Miracle
Credit: Linwood Ferguson – Fort Myers Miracle

Ft. Myers (High A) right-handed pitcher Aaron Slegers is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Slegers made one start for the Miracle, tossing a complete game shutout on May 24 vs. Brevard County, allowing three hits, no walks and nine strikeouts, earning the win. The 6-foot-10, 245-pounder has made eight starts for the Miracle, going 3-2, 2.59 ERA (48.2 IP, 14 ER). The 6’10” workhorse has pitched seven innings or more in three of his last five starts, going 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA over that stretch. Slegers has limited opponents to a .204 average with 18 strikeouts in 26 innings this month. The Scottsdale, Arizona native was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Indiana University and signed for a reported $380,000.

Former Hooiser standing tall in major leagues

Slegers gets cold celebration after shutout

Previous winners of Twins POW this season are right-handed pitcher Tyler Duffey, left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves, outfielder Byron Buxton, infielder Trey Vavra, infielder Miguel Sano and first baseman/outfielder Max Kepler.

 Twins Minor League Report 05312015

According to ELIAS

Mark Buehrle 2015The Twins ended Mark Buehrle‘s streak of 35 consecutive innings without allowing Minnesota an earned run early and with emphasis last night, scoring four runs, all earned, in the first inning. But then Buehrle slipped back into form, the Blue Jays pecked away and the veteran left-hander wound up going the distance to earn a 6-4 victory. Only two major-league pitchers over the last 30 years have earned a complete-game win, going nine or more innings, after having allowed four or more runs in the first inning¿and even they were long ago. In 1995, Seattle’s Tim Belcher downed Cleveland, 11-5, after allowing four in the first, and in 1986, Fernando Valenzuela went the route after yielding four in the first to help the Dodgers top the Phillies, 11-4.

Sam McDowellBuehrle’s streak, crafted over five games dating back to 2011, was the longest by any big-league pitcher against an opposing team since Zack Greinke held Seattle without an earned run over 38 innings from 2008 to 2010. It was the longest such streak crafted by a starting pitcher against the Twins since Sudden Sam McDowell sailed through 48 innings without allowing the Twins an earned run over 1968 and 1969. Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Hicks snaps RBI drought

Aaron Hicks 2015Aaron Hicks hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning in the Twins’ 6-4 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon. Hicks entered the contest on a streak of 71 consecutive plate appearances without driving in a run, which was the third longest current streak for any major-league position player entering Wednesday’s action, behind Mike Baxter (103) and Coco Crisp (72). Source: ELIAS

On the flip side, Kirby Puckett holds the Twins longest streak of getting one or more RBI in a game with 11 games from September 15-25 in 1988. During his RBI streak Puckett hit .479 in 48 at bats and had a total of 15 RBI. source: Baseball-Reference Play Index

This Day in Twins History – May 27, 1964 – Hall beaned

Jimmie Hall

Bo Belinsky
Bo Belinsky

In the first game of a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Angels Twins center fielder Jimmie Hall is beaned by Angel lefty Bo Belinsky as Hall leads off the top of the fifth inning. The Twins end up losing the game 4-1 but come back to win the second game 4-3. Hall ends up with a concussion and tries to come back on May 31st as a pinch-hitter but ends up striking out. Hall sits out several more games and gets back in the line-up on June 4th. Hall hit 33 home runs as a rookie in 1963 but is never really the same player after this beaning. The Star Tribune write-up about the incident.

Historically bad starts by Twins pitchers

With the Twins on a roll and their starting pitchers pitching well this might not be a good time to bring back bad memories but I couldn’t help myself after seeing that the New York Yankees were not good hosts to the Kansas City Royals and Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie yesterday when they pounded the Royals 14-1 and sent Guthrie to the showers after he had retired just 3 batters and allowed 9 hits, 3 walks and 11 earned runs. A tough day for Guthrie and for those fantasy players that had Guthrie in their line-up yesterday.

So of course that got me wondering what Twins pitchers over the years had rough outings like this. Turns out that the most earned runs given up by a Twins pitcher is 10, here are the pitchers that made the list. Note that some of the pitchers on this list pitched in relief.

Reed, Rick

Rk Player Date Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit BF ERA
1 Rick Reed 2003-04-21 NYY L 1-15 GS-5, L 4.1 10 11 10 3 4 2 95 26 20.77
2 Pat Mahomes 1993-04-24 DET L 1-17 GS-3, L 2.2 11 10 10 1 3 3 70 20 33.75
3 Willie Banks 1992-08-04 CHW L 11-19 3-4 1.2 8 10 10 4 1 1 56 17 54.00
4 Geoff Zahn 1980-07-21 (2) BAL L 5-12 GS-6, L 5.2 11 10 10 5 2 3 32 15.88
5 Joe Decker 1976-05-12 KCR L 5-17 GS-2, L 1.0 8 10 10 3 2 0 14 90.00
6 Vic Albury 1974-08-06 KCR L 3-17 3-7 5.0 12 10 10 5 2 1 33 18.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/26/2015.

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Joe Decker The worst Twins start probably belongs to Joe Decker who lasted just one inning and allowed 10 earnies to the Kansas City Royals back on May 12, 1976 at Royals Stadium. I should note however; that the most runs that a Twins hurler has ever given up in a game is 11 by Rick Reed in that April 21, 2003 loss to the Yankees by a 15-1 score at the Metrodome. Two Twins starters, Frank Viola on May 20, 1986 and Ray Corbin June 30, 1975 allowed 6 earned runs without retiring a single out before they were asked to hand over the baseball and leave the pitching mound.

So what Twins starter gave up the most earned runs and still won the game? That would be Jim Kaat who pitched a complete nine inning game on July 2, 1964 and beat the Red Sox 15-9 at Fenway Park while giving up nine earned runs.

According to ELIAS

Ricky Nolasco 2015Ricky Nolasco earned career win #100 in the Twins’ win over the Red Sox. Nolasco is the 14th pitcher to earn career win #100 while wearing a Twins uniform, and ten of them did it in a home game. Some notable pitchers whose 100th career win came as a Minnesota Twins player are Camilo Pascual (1963), Mudcat Grant (1966), Jim Kaat (1967), Dean Chance (1968), Jim Perry (1968) and Frank Viola (1988). Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Brian Dozier 2015Brian Dozier homered to lead off yesterday’s game and he added a three-run shot in the seventh inning to close the scoring in the Twins’ 8-1 victory over the White Sox. It was the ninth first-inning leadoff home run of Dozier’s career, all since 2013 (the second-most in the majors over that span, behind Shin-Soo Choo‘s 11), but it was the first of those nine games in which Dozier homered again in a subsequent at-bat. Source: ELIAS

Dozier is hitting .294 (15-for-51) with two doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored in his last 13 games (since May 9), in that span, only Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion has more home runs in all of baseball with eight.