Yunior Severino is a name Twins fans should continue monitoring. He’s a 23-year-old who smashed 24 homers in 87 games at Double-A Wichita and his first hit at Triple-A St. Paul was a moon shot.
It came in the St. Paul Saints’ 14-4 win Tuesday night. Severino, a switch hitter who was batting from the left side, clobbered a pitch 467 feet. It left his bat at 109.6 mph and cleared the outfield wall by a mile.
Yunior Severino with an absolute TANK for his first Triple-A HR for the @StPaulSaints đź’Ą
đź’Ł 109.6 mph
đź’Ł 29 degrees
đź’Ł 467 feet#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/47e0ErdygD— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) August 9, 2023
In his next at-bat, Severino took a fastball to the ribs. It was obvious that the pitcher intentionally beaned Severino for admiring his homer in his previous at-bat, prompting the umpiring crew to meet for a moment before ejecting the Louisville pitcher.
Severino’s numbers this season are impressive. He slashed .287/.365/.560 at Double-A with 24 homers, 15 doubles, two triples with 62 RBI in just 84 games. Twenty of his 25 homers in the minors this season have come as a left-handed hitter. He owns a .931 OPS as a lefty and a solid .858 OPS as a righty.
The only concerning thing in his numbers is a high strikeout rate. Severino has struck out 121 times in 388 plate appearances (31%) between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
Severino was originally signed by the Atlanta Braves when he was 16 years old. He became a free agent in 2017 and wound up signing with the Twins.
What’s interesting is that Severino, who typically plays third base, doesn’t even crack the list on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Twins prospects. But here we are, talking about a guy who has been blasting pitchers all over the yard and is now getting more attention since he’s one step away from the big leagues.
