MINNEAPOLIS -- When the Twins took catcher Vahn Lackey with the third overall pick in the MLB Draft on Saturday, it was reasonable to think they were done selecting backstops for at least a little while.
They were not.
Minnesota turned around and took another catcher in the second round: Texas’ Carson Tinney, a big man with big power whom the club believes can also stick behind the plate. Lackey and Tinney were both emblematic of the most consistent trend underlying the team’s five selections on Saturday: players who have proved themselves at the highest levels of amateur baseball.
In addition to Lackey and Tinney, the Twins took Virginia Tech right-hander Brett Renfrow and TCU righty Tommy LaPour, as well as Colorado prep righty Ethan Wachsmann. Four of their five selections not only came from the college ranks, but from the three top conferences in college baseball: the ACC (Lackey and Renfrow), SEC (Tinney) and Big 12 (LaPour). And Wachsmann? Well, he was on his way to play at top ACC program Wake Forest, a commitment the Twins are hoping to get him to forgo.
“I think when you see players perform in these Power 4 conferences and have [the] success that they did, it gives you a little more confidence to believe the numbers,” said Twins scouting director Sean Johnson.
As for the two catchers? Don’t make too much of it: Johnson was emphatic that at each spot, Minnesota simply took the top player on its board. Still, there’s no denying that adding high-level catching prospects to a system somewhat short on them is not the worst thing the club could do.
“By the time we got to that part of the board, we thought [Tinney] was the best position player left in that range,” Johnson said. “The fact he’s a catcher, we already had a catcher with Vahn Lackey the pick prior, I guess it goes back to, you guys always hear me say, ‘We’re taking the best player on the board,’ and that’s what we did.”
- Round 2, Pick 43
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: Texas
- Calling Card: Power. Tinney is a big guy who hits the ball hard. When he makes contact, it goes. He totaled 39 homers over his last two college seasons at Notre Dame and Texas. The Twins also believe he can develop into a quality defensive catcher.
- Quote: “He’s got some of the highest exit velocities in this class. He’s got huge power. He can really throw. We think his defensive skills are at a good spot, and we think we can make him even better. He hasn’t been a catcher his whole life, but we trust player development can do a lot of good things with what he can do.” -- Johnson
Brett Renfrow, RHP
- Competitive Balance Round B, Pick 74
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: Virginia Tech
- Calling Card: He’s a very Twins kind of pitcher, a strike-throwing right-hander with pitches they think they can refine and get more out of. Renfrow has a wide repertoire and has great experience, with three full seasons in the Hokies’ starting rotation.
- Quote: “He really fits our mold of college starter, really good strike-thrower, full mix of pitches that we think can enhance and optimize even more once we sign him. And really good makeup.” -- Johnson
Ethan Wachsmann, RHP
- Round 3, Pick 79
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: Grandview HS (Colo.)
- Calling Card: Another big pitcher with a big arm. Wachsmann throws hard with developing command and control, and the club believes he can turn into something special. He has a commitment to a top program in Wake Forest, and is the kind of pitcher who might well grow into a first-rounder if he were to play college ball.
- Quote: “Really checks a lot of the boxes for a high school pitcher. Tremendous body. It's only going to get better. He's a very athletic kid with really good arm action. He's got multiple spin pitches. He's got a changeup that we've seen that's really good and only going to get better once he uses it more in pro ball.” - Johnson
Tommy LaPour, RHP
- Round 4, Pick 107
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: TCU
- Calling Card: LaPour might’ve gone much higher if he’d been healthy this year, but he lost a chunk of the season to elbow issues. He had an excellent sophomore year, and is yet another big, athletic pitcher with a big fastball.
- Quote: “We tracked him all the way back to Wichita State and high school. Football and wrestling background is interesting there. He’s a big guy, but he’s athletic and we think he moves well. … LaPour throws extremely hard, and he’s got good pitch shapes to start. These are the guys that our player development really likes to get their hands on and go to work with.” -- Johnson
Rounds 5-10
Do you like pitching? Then this was the portion of the Draft for you. The Twins took nothing but pitchers from their Competitive Balance Round B pick through the 10th round – nine straight hurlers, all right-handers, all but one from the college ranks.
Player to watch: Thomas Burns, RHP
- Round 8, Pick 227
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: University of Texas
- Calling Card: Burns is a power pitcher in a big body who hits 100 mph. He struck out more than 40 percent of the batters he faced this year, and though his walk rates were high, that’s the kind of dominance that catches a team’s eye. He’s likely to go on the Twins’ “four by four” plan, where pitchers throw about four innings or 60-65 pitches every four or five days.
- Quote: “He has extremely impressive pitches, and the mentality that probably fits more in the bullpen, which is not always our MO, but in that part of the Draft, we were really drawn to the pitch quality and his ability to throw extremely hard.” -- Johnson
Rounds 11-15
After a run of pitchers, the Twins took some infielders, as well as a classic Twins pick in righty Alec Bouchard, the Southern Conference pitcher of the year. Minnesota has had success with pitchers who put up good numbers at smaller schools.
Player to watch: Aidan Teel, OF
- Round 11, Pick 317
- Bats/throws: L/R
- School: Mississippi State
- Calling Card: The younger brother of White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, Aidan started out at Virginia, just as his brother did. He transferred to Mississippi State and had a bit of a down year, but as a sophomore at UVa he showed doubles power and an impressive command of the strike zone. The Twins believe he has at least some chance to play some center field.
- Quote: “He’s a guy who can stand in center field and play around. A left-handed hitter with a good swing who has produced in the past, and a guy whose swing we liked that might have some versatility. Really happy to get him in the 11th round.” -- Johnson
Rounds 16-20
More pitchers (three more to be exact), and more experience: three of these five players started for three seasons in college ball. But the most intriguing pick is a guy with much less experience.
Player to watch: Hideki Prather, C
- Round 17, Pick 497
- Bats/throws: R/R
- School: University of California, Berkeley
- Calling Card: A Bay Area native, born in Berkeley, Prather spent two years at Clemson, getting a total of four at-bats before coming home. In his first full year of college baseball, he exploded on the scene, slashing .333/.421/.632 for the Bears and leading the team or tying for the team lead in runs, doubles, homers and RBIs.
- Quote: “This guy was our rock. Just unbelievable. We don’t do the things we did the last part of the season without Hideki. Guys rallied around him and it was fun to see.” -- Cal head coach Mike Neu, as quoted at theclemsoninsider.com