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Checking in on Ben Revere
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The Minnesota Twins' farm clubs are now all in action with the rookie leagues getting started two weeks ago. Over the next few weeks, we'll check in on some of the Twins' top prospects to see how they are performing in the minor leagues. With scouting and development being the lifeblood of the Twins' organization, it is always interesting to see how the highly-touted draftees, as well as the low-rounders who turn out to be diamonds in the rough, adjust to the professional ranks.
The Twins used the 28th pick in the first round of the 2007 draft on Ben Revere. The high schooler from Lexington, Kentucky was listed as 5-9 and 165 lbs. on draft day, and was viewed as a risk by many evaluators. The MLB.com draft analysts described Revere as follows:
"If you're looking for a base-stealer, a guy who could develop into a leadoff man, Revere may be worth a look. He's got tremendous speed and knows how to run the bases. He's got the skills to be an above-average defensive outfielder as well. Where he's lacking is his bat. He doesn't use his speed to its greatest advantage in terms of hitting approach and he'll need some serious re-tooling to maximize his potential. Still, this kind of speed doesn't grow on trees and a team that feels they can teach him the other skills -- he does have outstanding makeup -- will take a chance."
While other players in that draft have already debuted in the majors and made an impact (David Price, Matt LaPorta, etc.), the Twins clearly took the long-view with Revere. He signed quickly for a $750,000 bonus and was sent to the GCL Twins. In 216 plate appearances that summer, Revere hit .325/.388/.461 with 6 doubles, 10 triples, and 29 RBI. He also stole 21 bases in 30 attempts. Clearly, the Twins were very pleasantly surprised with the 19-year-old's plate performance in short-season ball.
Revere opened 2008 in the Twins' Extended Spring Training Camp, but was assigned to Class A Beloit in the Midwest League. While there, Revere was simply spectacular, hitting .379/.433/.497 with 17 doubles, 10 triples, a homer, and 43 RBI in 374 plate appearances. The stolen bases increased to 44 in 61 attempts. His strikeout to walk ratio was 31:27 and he flashed signs of being the Twins' leadoff hitter of the future as a 20-year-old in the Midwest League. As was the case with rookie ball, Revere saw almost all of his action in center field in Beloit, with all but 8 games played in the middle.
The Twins have elected to continue the patient approach to Revere's development and dismissed any urges to have him skip any levels. He has played the entire season at Ft. Myers in the Advanced-Class A Florida State League, and has continued his hot hitting. Through 72 games and 304 plate appearances, Revere is hitting .319/.388/.381 with 9 doubles, a triple, a homer, and 31 RBI. He has also swiped 28 bags in 40 attempts, and his strikeout to walk ratio is 23:26. The Miracle has played Revere in both center and left fields, with fellow prospect Joe Benson also in the mix in center. The triples are down a bit from his first two years, and he's playing in larger parks in the FSL than in the Midwest League. Still, the future looks extremely bright for Revere.
It will be interesting to monitor his performance in his first "full" professional season. Revere is close to passing his plate appearances for the entire 2008 season and we'll be able to see how he handles the dog days of summer. Ft. Myers has clinched the first half championship in the FSL South Division, so he'll also have some post-season at-bats under his belt this season.
Prominent Twins bloggers Seth Stohs, Aaron Gleeman, Travis Aune of Twinkie Town, and Nick Nelson all have Revere rated as the organization's #1, #2, or #3 prospect, and it's easy to see why. We'll continue to monitor this special talent to see how he progresses in his first full season as a pro.
Tuesday Night in Kansas City: A pitchers' duel at Kauffman Stadium went Minnesota's way Tuesday evening, as the Twins held off the Royals 2-1. Scott Baker and friends out-dueled Brian Bannister for the victory.
Baker labored through 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and 1 run to pick up his 6th victory of the season. He needed 111 pitches to complete his 5 innings of work. Bobby Keppel, Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, and Joe Nathan combined for 4 innings of scoreless relief to close out the victory, allowing a total of just 3 hits over that span. For Nathan, it was his 20th save of what should be an All-Star season.
Baker also closed out a fine month of June with the victory in KC. After a nightmarish start to his season, Baker turned in a 4-0 June, posting a 3.20 ERA in 39.1 innings of work. During that span, he allowed just 30 hits, walked only 8, and struck out 35. Also, after allowing a much-publicized 14 homers in his first 52.2 innings of work, Baker allowed just 3 homers in June. It's nice for the Twins to have him headed in the right direction.
At the plate, Justin Morneau homered for the third-consecutive game, hitting a solo shot (his 19th) in the 4th inning off Bannister. In an otherwise disappointing .255/.342/.459 month of June, Morneau closed it out with a 4-10, 3 HR, 6 RBI performance over the final three games.
The series finale is Wednesday afternoon, as Glen Perkins and Gil Meche hook up. The Twins get a well-timed off day Thursday before opening the big homestand against Detroit, the Yankees, and the White Sox.
In the Meantime......: Bad news about the Pioneer Press's Phil Miller, via Aaron Gleeman, Josh's Thoughts, and Seth Stohs; Twins Fix looks into the light-hitting middle of the Twins' infield; Josh Johnson's lobbying for Steven Tolleson's recall; Stick and Ball Guy checks in on the AAA Rochester Red Wings.
