By now, Twins fans are more than familiar with the team's young hitting prospects.
Miguel Sano is in his third season with the team and is rounding into one of the American League's most consistent offensive threats. Byron Buxton also has been with the Twins for parts of three seasons. He's clearly still working to figure things out at the plate, but he's also had 400 fewer MLB plate appearances than Sano while also providing the Twins nearly unmatched defense and speed.
Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler? They, too, have been here long enough that we know about them.
The immediate prospect pool on the starting pitching side of things, however, is more shallow and less known. If there is one name we've heard over and over, though, it is Jose Berrios.
And Berrios, who made his triumphant 2017 Twins debut Saturday at Cleveland, might be the organization's most important prospect of them all.
It's only might because it's foolish to undervalue hitting in the modern game, but the case can be made for Berrios. If the Twins are going to become legitimate contenders at some point — not just a team on the fringes of the wild-card race but real contenders — they are going to need top-of-the-rotation pitchers. You can try to buy those in free agency, but they are both hard to find and ridiculously expensive.
Berrios certainly isn't the only pitcher in the Twins organization with that capability, but he is the one with the deepest track record despite still only being 22 (he turns 23 later this month).
Berrios' 14-start audition in 2016 was a cautionary tale similar to what we saw early on from Buxton. There was some raw ability and flashes of brilliance, but overall he struggled mightily: 3-7 record and an ERA over 8. He started this season in Rochester, where he has dominated Class AAA hitters (1.13 ERA in six starts) — just like he has dominated every other level except (so far) the majors.
