The Twins are leaning toward passing on high school right-hander/shortstop Hunter Greene with the top overall pick in the upcoming MLB draft, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Greene has drawn quite a bit of fanfare over the past calendar year, due largely to his ability to reach triple digits with his fastball. However, he’d be the first high school right-hander ever selected with the draft’s top pick, and there’s a clear level of risk when selecting any prep arm near the top of the draft. Rather, the Twins are leaning toward Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright, Heyman hears, with Louisville left-hander/first baseman Brendan McKay and prep shortstop Royce Lewis also under consideration. Baseball America’s John Manuel had the Twins selecting Wright in last week’s mock draft, while MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo had Greene tabbed as the Twins’ selection in his own mock draft from that same day.
A few more notes from the division…
- Despite a perhaps surprisingly solid start to the year from the White Sox, general manager Rick Hahn is maintaining a long-term outlook as the summer trade season approaches, writes MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom. “We remain very open-minded about whatever opportunities present themselves to make us better for the long run,” said Hahn. “Our focus is on something that is more sustainable than this one season. We’re in the same mode we were in this past offseason, looking for some long-term pieces to put us in position to contend on an annual basis.” David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Jose Quintana are among the top names the Sox could make available, Bloom observes, though the latter two from that trio haven’t exactly gotten off to strong starts in 2017.
- The Royals announced yesterday that right-hander Nate Karns has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to an “extensor strain” (per the club’s transactions page at MLB.com). For the time being, his spot in the rotation will go to rookie Miguel Almonte, who was slated to start today’s series finale at Yankee Stadium prior to a rainout, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. There’s been no timetable provided by the Royals for Karns’ absence, though his injury comes at an especially inopportune time; the right-hander had been excellent across his past four starts, pitching to a 2.01 ERA with an otherworldly 32-to-4 K/BB ratio through 22 1/3 innings. It’s not yet clear if today’s postponement will deprive Almonte of the opportunity to make a start, though Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets that the starts in this weekend’s series will go to Ian Kennedy, Jason Vargas and Danny Duffy.
- Anthony Gose, who has converted from playing center field to pitching, made his pro debut on the mound for Class-A Lakeland yesterday, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus tells Fenech that Gose’s fastball sat at 97 mph, and the left-hander also touched 98 mph twice and 99 mph three times. Gose was a two-way prospect in the draft back in 2008, so pitching isn’t exactly new to him, though he obviously hasn’t focused on it in his nearly nine seasons of professional ball. Ausmus noted that due to Gose’s age, he may not be progressed through the minors like a typical (i.e. younger) prospect would be. The implication there, seemingly, is that Gose may not need to stop at every level before the club decides to take a look at him in the Majors. That, however, could be a long shot to happen in 2017. GM Al Avila appeared on the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit this week and said that he wouldn’t put a firm “no” on Gose pitching in the Majors this season, though he also didn’t characterize that outcome as likely (via Will Burchfield of CBS Detroit).
Any fact that he wants to stay local have anything to do with the twins passing?
the twins would be stupid to pass on him, he seems like a good kid so attitude shouldn’t be an issue, and seems to have talent
thye would not be stupid greene has ace potential but hs pitchers are the risking guys to draft. when a guy like wright has number 1 or 2 potential is much more proven and a lot more likely to get to his potential then greene
Stupid? That’s a lot of risk in someone so young (with an extremely high-ceiling) that’s yet to play college or pro ball. If signability goes out the window, you need to also think about the timeline that they want to compete. Presumably Greene would need more time than someone like Wright/McKay, and MIN is competing already with Berrios already looking like a top of the rotation arm.
I get what you’re saying about timelines, but teams should be drafting the player it believes will have the biggest impact at the MLB level regardless of timeline (or position). If the get into a win-now period, the team can use the prospect asa trde chip.
Little or no difference between high school and college pitchers taken in the 1st round in the percentage that make it to the majors as a starter. The time frame is different, not the percentage.
Doubtful. That report was denied. I’m sure he wants to be at home, but I don’t think he won’t sign if the Twins or Reds pick him.
I think the reason the Twins would pass is because no one knows if he’ll develop secondary pitches. If he doesn’t, the best he can be on the mound is Aroldis Chapman. No team wants a RP, especially at 1-1.
Kyle Wright has number 1 upside, not as high as Greene but still number one upside. He also already has 3-4 good pitches which is what a SP needs to succeed.
Should say no team wants a RP in the first round.
The twins do. Tyler jay, luke bard, alex wimmers, and maybe if they are lucky Stewart might be a RP
They drafted those players as SP, except Bard. They failed. They didn’t want them to only be RP. So my point still stands.
Short of being a signability issue, preferring to play closer to home seems understandable. There’s speculation that shutting down Greene as a pitcher earlier this spring was a tactic to drop him to the Padres pick, but who knows. At last check (BA, late April), Greene and his family have actively vetted several teams (including the Twins, Reds, and Padres at #1-3), wanting to learn how each team would plan to develop him. BA reports the Twins and Padres – but not the Reds – mesh well with Greene’s own philosophy. (Not sure why this is. It seems unlikely, but maybe Cincy would want Greene as a SS rather than a SP?.) If Minnesota does pass on Greene, it’ll create an interesting situation with the Reds at #2.
Goes can get a WIN and a SAVE in the same game.
1. He pitches to the last batter in the 7th inning of a tie game.
2. Tigers get run in the 8th to take the lead and the score remains the same the rest of the game.
3. Gose moves to OF for the 8th inning.
4. Gose comes back in to pitch the 9th.
Sorry Autocorrect problem.. GOSE not GOES.
You can’t come back in to pitch.
You can if you stay in the field, as was suggested.
Yes you can. That’s not a rule in professional baseball
Awesome! Hope it happens.
You can’t get a save and a win. He would be the pitcher of record so he would get a win and no one would be credited a save.
Anyone know if Gose is going to be a starter or reliever? Will he be a two-way player? Curious to see how this plays out.
He’s not playing the outfield anymore. He’s exclusively a pitcher and working as a reliever right now.
Yes. But if Gose ever does make it back to MLB as a pitcher a scenario like the one bobbleheadguru suggested would certainly be in play, especially with a manager like Joe Maddon who wasn’t afraid to put Travis Wood in the outfield then bring him back to the mound when another lefty hitter was due up.
Right, his manager would feel far more comfortable pinch-running with him, putting him into the OF on occasion and possibly even pinch-hitting with a depleted bench. He’ll probably always have outfield work as an emergency fallback, even if he finds success on the mound.
Point was simply that he’s no longer working out as an outfielder in the minors, and the team isn’t hoping to make him some type of hybrid player that plays a game or two per week in the OF and also works out of the bullpen. He’s being looked at as a pitcher that can provide a bit of value in other ways if needed.
In the scenario I describe, he would not need to actually hit. Just play the field for an inning in between pitching. Maybe Righties are in there in the 8th inning and Lefties in the 9th inning, giving him a reason to go to the field in between the 7th and 9th.
Hypothetically, he could get both a W and S. However, I think there is a rule that he only gets a W (or maybe he gets to choose?).
I asked Sean Forman about this (Baseball Reference). He confirmed this is hypothetically possible.
He would get the win. There’s no choice or discussion. He’d get he win and not a save
RP/Pinch Runner
Like Bethancourt? Used to be a catcher, but now just pitching.
I would be shocked if he is anything but a reliever. Sounds like a Matt Bush type conversion, albeit with a much different backstory.
almost certainly a reliver and probably only an emergency of
I give Gose 8-10 weeks before he has to have TJ. Teams are so dumb when dealing with guys who throw hard – its called pitching, not throwing.
That’s stupid! He was a pitcher for many years and has arm strength so if he develops some off-speed stuff, he can be an effective Reliever. He’s not over/throwing to impress, it’s where he is at—sitting 95-97 can throw 99. I think he has a real shot and is better than half the guys Tigers had the last three years come out of that awful pen!
Watching some video of his outing a few days ago and he has a decent breaking ball
i don’t think it’s a great idea to pass on greene, but it’s not like he’s a cut above the guys they’re supposedly eyeing. it definitely isn’t akin to passing on verlander for matt bush. it’s sort of akin to the aiken/kolek/rodon draft in terms of projection.
Twins are in the midst of converting from a pretender to a contender so a College player with a longer history of success and maturity, is the wise move. HS pitchers are 4-6 years away from development versus 2-3 years for a college player. Minnesota drafts well so give them some credit.
They draft position players pretty well, though it usually comes in peaks and valleys. Starting pitching or pitching in general has been very hard for them.
The twins draft well (after the 3rd round) they are really bad in the first round.
I prefer Wright to Greene. While Greene is very intriguing, I’m concerned about his secondary pitches. Wright on the other hand checks all the boxes, if he were left handed it wouldn’t be a debate.
Bingo.