Prior to the 2019 season, Baseball America predicted the Pensacola Blue Wahoos would be the most talented team in Double-A.They were right.In a banner first season as a Minnesota Twins affiliate, the Wahoos watched an unprecedented seven players from their Opening Day roster be promoted to the Major Leagues while
Prior to the 2019 season, Baseball America predicted the Pensacola Blue Wahoos would be the most talented team in Double-A.
They were right.
In a banner first season as a Minnesota Twins affiliate, the Wahoos watched an unprecedented seven players from their Opening Day roster be promoted to the Major Leagues while each of the Twins' top five prospects and over half of their pre-season top 30 donned a Pensacola uniform.
Even with top prospects like Brusdar Graterol, Jorge Alcala, and Luis Arraez in the big leagues and other highly-touted players like Jaylin Davis and Lewin Diaz moved in trades, the Blue Wahoos finished the season with more than one-third of MLB Pipeline's end-of-year Twins top 30 list on their roster, setting up another exciting season that will be highlighted by top-flight talent at Blue Wahoos Stadium in 2020.
Check in on each of 12 top-30 prospects who ended the season in Pensacola below with way-too-early predictions of where they'll be on Opening Day 2020.
Moving Up
These top prospects finished 2019 with the Blue Wahoos but are likely to start 2020 in Triple-A.
#2 Alex Kirilloff: A wrist injury slowed the 2018 MiLB Breakout Prospect of the Year, leaving Kirilloff with a .268 average and just two home runs in the first half, but a torrid finish to the season highlighted by eleven home runs in the second half/post-season put an exclamation point at the likely end of the Pensacola chapter of his career. With fans clamoring for a Major League call-up following a four-game home run binge in the Southern League playoffs, Kirilloff is likely to start 2020 in Triple-A or above.
#5 Trevor Larnach: The Florida State League's MVP in 2019, Larnach hit more homers (7) in 43 games in Double-A than he did across 84 games (6) with the Fort Myers Miracle while showing off his advanced plate approach by reaching base at a .384 clip, a mark that would have ranked second in the Southern League had he accrued enough at-bats to qualify for the leaderboard. He only spent a month and a half in Pensacola, but he likely did more than enough in that time to deserve an Opening Day spot in Triple-A next season. The Twins surplus of outfield depth might mean Larnach starts 2020 with the Blue Wahoos, but if he does, he won't stay long.
#18 Stephen Gonsalves: Gonsalves finished a forgettable 2019 season in Pensacola having thrown just 13.0 total innings at three levels due to injury. Now healthy, the former Twins #2 pitching prospect will look to bounce back in 2020, reclaim his spot near the top of prospect lists, and return to the big leagues with the Twins.
#22 Griffin Jax: One measly out. That's all Griffin Jax fell short to qualify for the Southern League pitching leaderboard in 2019, where his 2.67 ERA would have ranked second had he reached the required innings threshold. Regardless, the Twins eighth-ranked pitching prospect has already made three appearances at the Triple-A level and should headline the top half of a talented Rochester Red Wings starting rotation to open 2020.
#24 Travis Blankenhorn: On pace to set the Blue Wahoos single-season home run record, a broken finger in July cost Blankenhorn 30 games and left him two homers shy of the franchise mark. A Mid- and Post-Season Southern League All-Star, Blankenhorn set career highs in homers and total bases, racked up double digit stolen bases, and quieted questions about his defensive position by providing consistent and occasionally spectacular play at second base, building a strong case for a promotion to Triple-A in 2020.
Should Be Back
#1 Royce Lewis: After a Florida State League All-Star selection and an appearance in the 2019 Futures Game, the 2017 #1 overall pick joined Pensacola for the last month of the season. Just 20-years-old and with only 33 games in Double-A under his belt, Lewis is likely to return in 2020 to build off of his strong post-season (.400 AVG, 5 R, 3 RBI in 5 games), putting one of baseball's top 10 overall prospects in the Pensacola lineup on Opening Day.
#4 Jordan Balazovic: Pressure didn't phase the Twins second-ranked pitching prospect, as he made his Double-A debut in the Southern League playoffs and struck out seven over 4.2 strong innings. After an outstanding season at lower levels (2.69 ERA, 129 Ks in 93.2 IP), Balazovic's one-game stint with Pensacola in 2019 will serve as a teaser of things to come as the 21-year-old figures to headline a Pensacola pitching staff that could overflow with depth with arms like Twins #9 and #26 prospects Jhoan Duran and Cole Sands, the towering Bailey Ober (8-0, 0.69 ERA in R/A+/AA), flamethrowers Edwar Colina and Dakota Chalmers, and a healthy Tyler Wells all serving as options to open the season with the Blue Wahoos.
#9 Jhoan Duran: In his second-to-last start of the 2019 season, the hard-throwing Duran came aggravatingly close to no-hitting the eventual league champion Jackson Generals, carrying a no-no into the eighth inning of a dominant 11-strikeout performance. With just 37.0 innings of Double-A experience, Duran should combine with Balazovic to give Pensacola one of the most fearsome one-two pitching punches in the Southern League in 2020.
#10 Ryan Jeffers: Following a strong year in Fort Myers (.256/.330/.402, 10 HR), Jeffers helped power Pensacola's playoff push after a late-July promotion to Double-A. In 24 games with the Wahoos, Jeffers slashed a healthy .287/.374/.483 and didn't allow a passed ball behind the plate. The top catching prospect in the system, Jeffers should be back hitting in the middle of the Pensacola lineup on Opening Day.
#20 Jose Miranda: Like Balazovic, Miranda joined Pensacola for the Southern League playoffs and immediately rattled off a six-game hitting streak, hitting .417 in one regular season and five post-season games for the Blue Wahoos. He projects to have a full season in Double-A in 2020 to show off his power (16 homers in 2018) and continue to develop defensively around the diamond in Pensacola's infield.
#26 Cole Sands: Sands shot across three levels in 2019, starting strong in Cedar Rapids (3.05 ERA) before dominating in Fort Myers (2.25 ERA) and reaching Pensacola for one start. An elbow injury ended his season early in August, but the Florida State alum was impressive in his lone Double-A appearance, striking out 6 over 4.0 innings, and should return with Balazovic, Duran, and Bailey Ober on a pitching-rich Pensacola roster.
#30 Ben Rortvedt: Between Fort Myers and Pensacola, Rortvedt showed off the defensive prowess behind the plate that earned his a second-round selection in 2016, throwing out more than half (52%) of attempted base stealers over the course of the 2019 season. He's headed to the Arizona Fall League to catch up on at-bats after an injury ended his season on August 9 and will be a candidate to either debut in Triple-A or return to Double-A to begin 2020.
Names To Know:
These top 30 prospects haven't reached Double-A yet, but they could quickly become familiar names to Pensacola fans in 2020.
#12 Blayne Enlow: A third-round pick in 2017, Enlow reached High-A in 2019 and impressed, going 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA across 69.1 innings for the Miracle. Just 20-years-old and facing stiff competition from a plethora of older pitching prospects for a Blue Wahoos rotation spot, it seems sensical he'd return to Fort Myers to begin 2020, but a promotion could come quickly if he picks up where he left off.
#21 Gilberto Celestino: Acquired alongside Jorge Alcala in the Ryan Pressly trade, Celestino raked in 116 games with A-Cedar Rapids in 2019, slashing .276/.350/.409 with 10 homers and 14 steals. He joined Fort Myers for eight games before hurricane concerns ended the Florida State League season and hit .300. He'll have just turned 21 on Opening Day and should headline a prospect-packed Fort Myers outfield with the potential to be a quick mover to Pensacola.
#28 Gabriel Maciel: After hitting .309 and reaching base at a .395 clip with Cedar Rapids in 2019, Maciel earned a mid-season promotion to Fort Myers and hit .261/.342/.357 in 55 games with the Miracle, finishing the season with 22 stolen bases combined between the two levels. With significantly more time at High-A than Celestino, Maciel is likely to be the first to arrive in Pensacola and should join Celestino and #17 prospect Akil Baddoo back in a talented Fort Myers outfield in April 2020.
