Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 prospect rankings were released today and the Minnesota Twins have five players in the top 50.
Despite injuries derailing his 2014 summer, outfielder Byron Buxton remains No. 1 on the list. Power hitting third baseman Miguel Sano dropped from a top five prospect to No. 9, although he recently underwent Tommy John surgery.
Pitchers Jose Berrios, Kohl Stewart and Alex Meyer round out Minnesota’s group of five players in the Top 50.
BA's Top 50 includes five #MNTwins: Buxton (1), Sano (9), Berrios (27), Stewart (30), Meyer (32).
— Jeremy Nygaard (@jeremynygaard) July 7, 2014
According to NBC Sports, Buxton was the top ranked player over the winter in rankings reported by MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America.
Buxton finally returned to game action Sunday for only his sixth game of the season. A wrist injury suffered in mid-March had kept him sidelined.
Buxton went 0-2 in his first game back Sunday. According to 1500 ESPN, Buxton could fly through the minor-league system as long as he puts together good at-bats, plays solid defense in centerfield and continues to wreak havoc on the base paths.
“Hopefully he’ll be productive and go out and do a good job and we can get him to the next level,” Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. “That’s what I hope.”
Buxton, the No. 2 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, earned the top rankings by posting 30 doubles, 22 triples, 18 homers, and 66 steals in 178 career games between rookie ball and High-A Fort Myers.
Sano underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery after sustaining the injury in spring training. The latest report on the power hitting prospect is that he could soon resume taking light swings. It’s been 4 1/2 months since the injury, and players typically don’t resume throwing until eight or nine months later, according to the Pioneer Press.
Berrios, a 20-year-old right-hander, is 9-3 with a microscopic 1.93 ERA at Class A Fort Myers this season. He has 109 strikeouts and just 23 walks in more than 96 innings pitched, per Baseball Reference.
Meyer is 5-4 with a 3.96 ERA at Triple-A Rochester this season. His strikeout numbers (96 in 83 1/3 innings) remain impressive, although he went through a three-start slump in June. He’s since posted back-to-back quality starts.
