Minnesota Twins

A look at May stats for top Twins prospects

Published Jun. 1, 2017 1:03 p.m. ET

Dave Heller

The Minnesota Twins are reshaping their franchise with an injection of youth and prospects.

Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports North will take a closer look at some specific young players -- as well as noting others who might be stepping up -- measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.

This is the 5th edition of the 2017 Young Twins Tracker.

Nick Burdi (age 24/Double-A)

Season: 14 games (no starts), 2-0, 1 SV, 0.53 ERA, 17 IP, 9 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 20 K, .161 OBA, 0.76 WHIP.
Notable: Minnesota's second-round pick in 2014 had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is thus out for the season. Burdi tore his ulnar collateral ligament on May 26.

Lewin Diaz (age 20/Low-A)

Last week: 6 games, 22 AB, 7 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB, 2 BB, 3 K, .318 BA.
Season: 50 games, 192 AB, .292 BA, .329 OBP, .516 SLG, .844 OPS, 20 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 22 R, 32 RBI, 0 SB, 11 BB, 31 K.
Notable: After a slow April (.244/.284/.366 in 22 games), Diaz got hot in May, posting a .327/.361/.627 slash line with 13 doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI. The left-handing hitting first baseman is second in the Midwest League in doubles.

Stephen Gonsalves (age 22/Double-A)

Last week: 2 games (2 starts), 0-1, 13 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 15 K.
Season: 3 games (3 starts), 0-2, 3.18 ERA, 17 IP, 11 H, 2 HR, 2 BB, 18 K, .183 OBA, 0.76 WHIP.
Notable: After going four innings in his season debut May 20, Gonsalves pitched seven innings on May 26 vs. Montgomery (6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K) and went six at Birmingham on May 31 (3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K).

Nick Gordon (age 21/Double-A)

Last week: 6 games, 25 AB, 8 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB, 4 BB, 5 K, .320 BA.
Season: 49 games, 196 AB, .306 BA, .377 OBP, .490 SLG, .867 OPS, 14 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 31 R, 27 RBI, 3 SB, 23 BB, 45 K.
Notable: While Gordon's average slipped a bit from April to May, he had a big power surge. Overall his slash line for the month was .294/.374/.532. Gordon is fifth in the Southern League in batting average and tied for first in doubles and triples.

Tyler Jay (age 23/Double-A)

Season: 2 games (0 starts), 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 2 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 K, .143 OBA, 2.00 WHIP.
Notable: Jay was activated from the disabled list May 23 and his season debut two days later. After being mainly a starter following being drafted in the first round in 2015, Jay is now in the bullpen. On May 30, he pitched a scoreless, hitless inning, walking one and whiffing two.

ByungHo Park (age 30/Triple-A)

Last week: 6 games, 23 AB, 4 H, 2 2B, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 5 K, .174 BA.
Season: 23 games, 92 AB, .228 BA, .283 OBP, .413 SLG, .696 OPS, 8 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI, 0 SB, 7 BB, 23 K.
Notable: Park's last home run came May 21, when he went deep in back-to-back games. He batted just .197/.247/.382 in 19 games this month, although he hit all three of his homers.

Kohl Stewart (age 22/Double-A)

Season: 6 games (6 starts), 0-4, 5.63 ERA, 24 IP, 26 H, 1 HR, 22 BB, 14 K, .280 OBA, 2.00 WHIP.
Notable: Stewart remains on the disabled list due to left knee tendinitis. He made just one appearance in May, allowing two runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Others

May totals from around the farm clubs: Rochester RHP Aaron Slegers (5th round, 2013) had a 3.41 ERA, .225 OBA and 0.98 WHIP in five starts. . . . Chattanooga CF Lamonte Wade (9th round, 2015) hit .318/.456/.432 and had 23 walks in 26 games. . . . Fort Myers 3B Chris Paul (6th round, 2015) had an impressive month, posting a slash line of .383/.459/.585 with 11 doubles and 20 RBI, but he was placed on the DL on May 31 with a sprained wrist. . . . Cedar Rapids LF Jaylin Davis (24th round, 2015) had eight home runs and now leads the Midwest League with 11 HR. . . . Kernels RHP Tom Hackimer (4th round, 2016) tossed 13 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and two walks with 18 strikeouts. He was promoted to Fort Myers on May 31.

Statistics courtesy milb.com.

Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players from the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns