Five of the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects will start the season at Triple-A with the St. Paul Saints.
The Twins’ new Class AAA affiliate released a 31-man roster on Saturday, officially transitioning from the big league club’s alternate training site to the team that will open the season Tuesday at Omaha, Neb.
Outfielder Trevor Larnach (No. 2), catcher Ryan Jeffers (No. 4), pitcher Jhoan Duran (No. 5), outfielder Brent Rooker (12) and infielder Travis Blankenhorn (25) — ranked among the organization’s top prospects by Baseball America — are on the roster, joined by 14 pitchers with major league experience.
The roster includes 18 pitchers, four catchers, four infielders and four outfielders. Only 28 can be active for the Saints at one time, and organizations can add as many as five players to a major league taxi squad.
Duran, whom the Twins received from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Eduardo Escobar trade, struck out 136 batters in 115 innings between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Pensacola in 2019. One of the organization’s top pitching prospects, Duran is on the Saints’ roster but is currently at the team’s complex in Fort Myers, Fla., getting stretched out. Griffin Jax, a third-round pick by the Twins in 2016, was a Southern League all-star with Pensacola.
Pitchers Luke Farrell, Devin Smeltzer, Lewis Thorpe, and Brandon Waddell have all spent time with the Twins this season. Ten others have pitched for major league teams: Shaun Anderson (Giants, 2020), Daniel Coulombe (Twins, 2020), Ian Gibaut (Rangers, 2020), Ian Hamilton (White Sox, 2020), Derek Law (Blue Jays, 2019), Robinson Leyer (Red Sox, 2020), Juan Minaya (White Sox, 2019), Chandler Shepherd (Orioles, 2019), Glenn Sparkman (Royals, 2020) and Andrew Vasquez (Twins, 2019).
Infielder Nick Gordon, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Twins, is a two-time mid-season all-star and played in the Futures Game in 2017. He hit .298 at Triple-A Rochester in 2019 and got his first call up to the majors on April 23. Outfielder Keon Broxton has the most major league experience of any Saints players with 376 games under his belt. He has 133 home runs and 261 stolen bases in his 11-year professional career.
The roster is subject to change before Tuesday’s opener. Both Tzu-Wei Lin and JT Riddle were recently designated for assignment and could wind up with the Saints.
SANÓ NOT ACTIVATED
Miguel Sanó was not activated on Saturday when he was first eligible to come off the injured list. Sanó has been out with a strained hamstring, his IL stint backdated to April 21. But instead of bringing him back immediately, the Twins are hoping to get him more at-bats to help him lock in at the plate. Sanó was 5 for 45 before getting injured with 20 strikeouts, though he had been taking his fair share of walks.
While Sanó has been doing some work at CHS Field, the Saints will be hitting the road for their opening series, and Sano will stay back in Minnesota, manager Rocco Baldelli said.
“He’s physically doing really well,” Baldelli said. “We want to make sure that he sees a little pitching and gets some more swings and tries to get his timing ready to go. We want him feeling good offensively before we bring him back and activate him.”
Getting him more at-bats could mean setting something up specifically so the first baseman could face live Triple-A pitchers, or they could potentially get him outside and crank up the velocity machine for him, Baldelli said.
BRIEFLY
Here’s are the current assignments for the rest of the top 10 (per Baseball America): No. 1 Alex Kirilloff (MLB), No. 3 Royce Lewis (out for season), No. 6 Jordan Balazovic (Double-A Wichita injured list), No. 7 Aaron Sabato (Single-A Fort Myers), No. 8 Matt Canterino (Single-A Advanced Cedar Rapids), No. 9 Blayne Enlow (Single-A Advanced Cedar Rapids), No. 10 Gilberto Celestino (Double-A Wichita). Minnesotan Matt Wallner will begin in Cedar Rapids.
2021 SAINTS ROSTER
- Pitchers: Andrew Albers (L), Shaun Anderson (R), Charlie Barnes (L), Daniel Coulombe (L), Jhoan Duran (R), Luke Farrell (R), Ian Gibaut (R), Ian Hamilton (R), Griffin Jax (R), Derek Law (R), Robinson Leyer (R), Juan Minaya (R), Bailey Ober (R), Chandler Shepherd (R), Devin Smeltzer (L), Glenn Sparkman (R), Lewis Thorpe (L), Andrew Vasquez (L), Brandon Waddell (L).
- Catchers: Caleb Hamilton (R/R), Ryan Jeffers (R/R), Roberto Pena (R/R), Telis, Tomas (S/R)
- Infielders: Travis Blankenhorn (L/R), Nick Gordon (L/R), Drew Maggi (R/R), Zander Wiel (R/R).
- Outfielders: Keon Broxton (R/R), Trevor Larnach (L/R), Rob Refsnyder (R/R), Brent Rooker (R/R).
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May 02, 2021 at 01:41AM
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Twins solidify St. Paul Saints’ first Triple-A roster - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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