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Draftees, international signings highlight Twins at instructs
- Updated: September 26, 2016
High school players taken in the Draft often face a steep learning curve when adjusting to the pro game. After signing, they get thrown into the proverbial fire by playing every day for the first time. Some adjust well, others take a bit longer.
Nearly all then head to instructional league play, which is typically the first time an organization has to actually work with the players and help them take their first pro experiences and build on that foundation with a plan to help them move forward.
“It’s a learning process, they’re getting used to pro baseball,” Twins Minor League field coordinator Joel Lepel said. “That’s been the process in my 11 years here. That’s what they have to do to learn.
“We try to educate them and get an understanding of how we do things and how we prepare for next year, for the long haul. You always have to be patient with younger players.”
These 2016 draftees, and others, have been in the Twins’ instructs camp since Sept. 14, getting that important work in. Instructional league games have been going on for a week, so Lepel and the player development staff are still getting to know this new wave of Twins.
“Everybody is just getting in the groove of things,” Lepel said. “We have one group that plays a game and the other group works out. They’re just getting their feet wet this first week.”
The group of new draftees is led by second-round pick Ben Rortvedt and Competitive Balance Lottery Round B selection Akil Baddoo. Rortvedt, a catcher from the Wisconsin high school ranks, is the Twins’ No. 8 prospect, while Baddoo, an athletic outfielder from Georgia, comes in at No. 26 on that list.
Both got more than 30 games in under their belts over the summer. Baddoo stayed in the Gulf Coast League and scuffled a bit, hitting .178 in 107 at-bats. Rortvedt began the year in the GCL as well, but moved up to Elizabethton in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. Combined, he hit .222 and threw out 28 percent of would-be basestealers. If …
