Twins Minor League Predictions:
2011 Hitter of the Year
In the last couple of days, I’ve been posting
a couple of blogs as we anticipate the start of the minor league season on Thursday.
First, we looked at some choices for Twins Minor League Breakout Hitter and
followed in with choices for Breakout Pitchers. There are two more predictions
that our panel will be making. Later, I’ll be posting our choices for the Twins
Minor League Pitcher of the Year, but now, here are our choices for the Twins
Minor League Hitter of the Year. In the Comments at the bottom, please feel
free to discuss your choices. But here is just another reminder of who is on
the panel:
Roger Dehring – He has been tracking the Twins minor
league system and players for a long time. He is an occasional guest writer
here, but he does a tremendous job of keeping the fine folks of Twinkie
Town updated on the Twins minor leagues with his Weekly Minor League
Reports each Saturday.
Josh Johnson – Finishing up college may inexplicably
understandably been his top priority of late, but when it comes to knowing the
Twins minor league system, Josh is among the top! He has written at Josh’s
Thoughts for several years.
Steve Lien - Steve writes the Twins content for Gear Up for Sports. He
has written a lot of information on Twins minor leaguers and spent nearly as
much time watching minor league practices in Ft. Myers as I did.
Cody Christie – Cody is the North Dakota Twins fan
even if he now makes his residence in the Twin Cities. He has been a he
addition to the Twins blogosphere in the past year writing on all levels of
Twins baseball from the minors to the history.
TWINS MINOR LEAGUE HITTER OF THE YEAR
Here are our choices for Twins Minor League
Hitter of the Year.
Seth – Chris Parmelee
– I think it’s safe to say that, if nothing else, Chris Parmelee
has the support of the Twins bloggers. I’ve given my reasons many times this
offseason, but Parmelee showed good power potential
early in his career while taking a lot of walks. Last year, he learned to cut
down his strikeouts and hit for more average. If he can spend the full season
in New Britain, I think he can put up big numbers. Not numbers like Michael Cuddyer put up on AA, but very good, all-around numbers.
Runner-Up: Danny Ortiz
Roger – Chris Parmelee – After a lot
of hard work, Parmelee appears to have put the
various pieces of his game together. He takes an above average
number of walks while cutting down strikeouts. Although
his home runs were down last year (8), we know the power is there
from previous years and he did have a lot of doubles in New Britain
(25) before leading the AFL. After a long journey, it appears
that Chris Parmelee is ready to make 2011
a special year. The big question is whether or not that will
include putting on a Twins uniform for the first time? Runner-up:
Oswaldo Arcia
Josh – Aaron Hicks – Despite playing in a
tough hitting environment, Hicks’ raw talent can be matched by only a few in
all of the minor leagues and I think we’ll see him make huge strides at the
plate in 2011.
Steve
– Oswaldo Arcia –
He was a monster in the Appalachian League last year, nearly taking home
the Triple Crown (TMI: last player to win the APP-TC was Glenn Braggs of the Paintsville
Brewers in 1983), and the Midwest League has been kind to top Twins hitting
prospects in the past (see Ben Revere).
With his power potential, Arcia should be
among the league leaders in several categories during 2011. Would like to see an improvement in plate
discipline, but that’s not a deal breaker at Low-A. RUNNER-UP: Chris Parmelee.
Cody – Chris Parmelee – There are so many good
players in the Twins minor league system that it is tough to decide on which
player will shine above the rest. There are many players in my top prospect
list that I feel will have great seasons this year. Parmelee
seems to be on the right track with the path he is on in the farm system. He
seems poised to make strides this season that will be hard for the organization
to ignore. He is ready to make the jump and that advancement will lead him to
this award. Runner-Up: Aaron Hicks
I think it is safe to say that we believe in Chris Parmelee?
We’ll be back this afternoon with our predictions for Twins Minor League
Pitcher of the Year. Feel free to leave
your prediction for Twins minor league hitter of the year in the comments
today.
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