Prospect update: Tyler Robertson and Jeff Manship
Posted on September 28th, 2007 – 2:12 PMBy La Velle
Baseball America just released its rankings of the top Midwest League prospects, and it includes lefthander Tyler Robertston and righthander Jeff Manship.
You’re going to hear more and more about Robertson over the next year, as he’s emerged as one of the Twins’ top prospects. In fact, he’s in my top ten prospects list that will be released on Sunday.
You already should know about Jeff Manship, who stepped up this year, too. The Twins have other prospects at Beloit, like outfielders Christopher Parmelee and Joe Benson, and catcher Wilson Ramos (another one to keep an eye on).
Here’s what was written about Manship:
Manship carved up the MWL before he left for high Class A in late June, allowing one run or less in 11 of his 13 starts and two runs in another. The only time he got hit was when he visited South Bend—where he pitched collegiately at Notre Dame—and tried to overthrow, costing him his usual exquisite command. He doesn’t pinpoint his pitches quite as well as fellow Twins righty Kevin Slowey, but it’s close.
“He has a chance to fly through their system,” the second scout said, “and become their next Brad Radke.”
Outside of his plus 12-to-6 curveball, Manship’s stuff isn’t as overwhelming as his numbers. His average fastball sits at 88-92 mph, and he also throws a changeup and an occasional slider.
As a college pitcher with the ability to locate his pitches as well as he does, Manship should have dominated the MWL. He didn’t overmatch hitters as much in the Florida State League, though he still went 8-5, 3.15 and continued to induce plenty of groundballs.
And Robertson:
As many teenage pitchers do, Robertson faced some adjustments in his first full year as a pro. Even after he spent the first two months in extended spring training, the grind of the longer season sapped some of the juice out of his fastball, which dropped from 90-94 mph as an amateur to 86-90 this year.
The loss of velocity didn’t faze Robertson, who had 143 strikeouts in 120 innings, including two stellar playoff starts. He piled up whiffs with a slider that he could get hitters to miss in the strike zone of chase off the plate. His big 6-foot-5 body gives him projection and good downward plane that creates a lot of groundballs.
Robertson has an unorthodox, stiff delivery that works for him now but could lead to problems down the road. It’s deceptive and throws hitters’ timing off, though it also puts a lot of stress on his shoulder.
44 Responses to "Prospect update: Tyler Robertson and Jeff Manship"
Um, most of us don’t have subscriptions to BA.
That link required a subscription.
try it again….
link still requires subscription
geez, I thought I worked around that…
…still efforting…
Sorry, had to link to the free page instead of the scouting reports page.
I’ll try to paste what they wrote about the Twins….
I actually had a few questions answered via the chat by Jim Callis today.
Also…while I love Robertson as a prospect, this is a bit alarming:
Even after he spent the first two months in extended spring training, the grind of the longer season sapped some of the juice out of his fastball, which dropped from 90-94 mph as an amateur to 86-90 this year.
That’s going to have to change. However, the fact that he still managed to get a high amount of K’s late in the season must mean that his delivery is quite deceptive, which it is, and that his secondary stuff is above average…which it seems to be, especially his slider.
I know you can never have enough pitchers especially since these guys are going to take a couple if not several years to get the the bigs. But can’t some of the pitchers in the Twins system be traded for some hitting? I don’t care if it’s Boof, Johan, or Robertson the Twins will not win without scoring more runs.
“He has a chance to fly … and become their next Brad Radke.”
this is always funny to me because it seems like this line pops up any time a twins prospect has any command of his pitches at all. 2 years ago i think it was dick bremer who compared baker to bradke, over this last season slowey’s been the new bradke, now manship’s the next bradke..
no offense to bradke but you’d think he was greg maddux the way people compare scouts to him.
Was I the only one surpirsed at the Appy top 20? Estarlin De Los Santos lead all Twin hitters at 13 and Rene Leveret didn’t even make the list ( he was the RBI leader for the league). I know BA heavly favors the age of players, but this seems little extreme…
Was I the only one surpirsed at the Appy top 20? Estarlin De Los Santos lead all Twin hitters at 13 and Rene Leveret didn’t even make the list ( he was the RBI leader for the league). I know BA heavly favors the age of players, but this seems little extreme…
I wasn’t too surprised.
De Los Santos is a gem defensively…that’s why I think he was ranked as high as he was, and the fact that he hit .282/.348/.437 while playing great defense is what makes him so appealing. He’s got the ability to hit too, so that makes him a very interesting prospect.
Add in the fact that he stole bases at an 86% clip, and that’s just icing on the cake.
Basically you said it right there why Leveret wasn’t included…his age is the one thing against him although all he’s done is mash the baseball so far.
The Twins don’t talk much about De Los Santos.
Levret? I think they want him to prove it in A-ball first. He’s listed in the media guide at 6-1 and 238, but reported to instructional league this month at 266!!!
Opps…BA had De Los Santos’s stat line wrong…it was:
.264/.341/.363
He also stole bases at a 79% clip, not 86% as BA’s Appy Top 20 suggests.
He K’ed a bit too much, but when he’s got tools, like they say he does, he’s a very interesting prospect.
Levret? I think they want him to prove it in A-ball first. He’s listed in the media guide at 6-1 and 238, but reported to instructional league this month at 266!!!
I am still a little surprised that the Twins didn’t promote Leveret to Beloit for their postseason run as they did with Romero and Tosoni.
If weight is going to be an issue, then it’s understandable that he’s not too high on many prospect lists…but in an organization starving for hitting prospects, he should be getting as good of as anyone.
Any idea on who on the 40 man roster currently in AAA might be gone next year?
I think Baseball America has gotten a bit defensive about its image. It looks like they are putting more weight on statistical performance than they used to. I think both Parmalee and Benson project higher than Manship or Robertson.
266?! I hope just a little of that was muscle. Thanks Erik, thanks La Velle!
Any idea on who on the 40 man roster currently in AAA might be gone next year?
I think there are a few guys…
Errol Simonitsch, Rondell White, Josh Rabe, Lew Ford, Garrett Jones, Alejandro Machado, Matthew LeCroy, Chris Heintz, & perhaps Juan Rincon if the Twins non-tender him…but I doubt that.
Plus, you add in the fact that the Twins are losing Hunter and most likely Silva, and possibly Santana, and that opens a lot of room on the 40 man roster.
mlbtraderumors.com has an item today about a Santana for Kemp and Kershaw rumor that’s been getting some buzz. Hate to see Johan go, but that’d be a nice deal.
mlbtraderumors.com has an item today about a Santana for Kemp and Kershaw rumor that’s been getting some buzz. Hate to see Johan go, but that’d be a nice deal.
While that’s a nice package, I firmly believe the Twins can get another piece or two out of the Dodgers.
Guys like Andy LaRoche, who should be the top target and doesn’t seem to be very liked by Ned Colleti, along with Tony Abreu, Delwyn Young, Jon Meloan, and even Andre Ethier should be targets too.
I’d love to say James Loney, but that’s wishful thinking.
Dan, very funny post. I agree.
That description of Robertson’s motion sounds an awful lot like a top-draft-pick lefty of a few years back (Ryan Mills). Hope I’m wrong; I guess I’ll see him at AA in a couple of years.
I think this is interesting. Normally BA does a decent job of posting prospects, but I am surprised that some didn’t make it. Looking at my Top 50 prospects, of guys in the Midwest League, it would go Robertson (1), Manship (5), Parmelee (6), Valencia (7), Burnett (8), Benson (9). I guess if they were just going to pick two Snappers, I would agree with them. I just think that they could have been higher. Then again, I don’t know alot about the other team’s systems and players.
Where’s La Velle’s top 10?
Can Morales play 3b???
Thanks for having this blog La Velle. I really appreciated the chance to participate.
Thanks Seth.
It’d be nice to get a separate blog to discuss LEN3’s list.
I think I’d find it very difficult to rank Swarzak below any of the current pitchers within the Twins minor league organization that are still considered “prospects.”
LEN3: you rate Robertson #1 stating that his fastball his 94 what BA said:
his fastball, which dropped from 90-94 mph as an amateur to 86-90 this year.
That measn his fastball is about where Jason Miller’s is. I have a problem rating the next Jason Miller #1 in the whole system when he’s had one year of full season baseball.
That measn his fastball is about where Jason Miller’s is. I have a problem rating the next Jason Miller #1 in the whole system when he’s had one year of full season baseball.
You’re comparing Tyler Robertson to Jason Miller?
Yikes…talk about hurting your credibility.
Did you read the entire piece regarding his drop in velocity?
Did you read the entire piece regarding his drop in velocity?
Yes. It’s actually a pretty common phenomenon. High school pitchers throw in the mid 90s and lose velocity when they get to pro ball, especially for their first full season. Both Jay Rainville and Anthony Swarzak threw in the mid to upper 90s in high school. Rainville was compared to Roger Clemens. Swarzak was compared to John Smoltz. Swarzak still throws int he low 90s. Rainville barely touches 90.
Robertson should be better than Miller. His body should fill out and he should be a good middle-of-the-rotation pitcher. I was merely comparing thier fastballs and saying, if he doesn’t add a foot or two onto it, his career projects to that of Miller. Considering the uncertainty in that, you just can’t rank him as a top prospect.
But at this stage in their respective careers, they’re not that different. Miller was drafted in the fourth round of the 2000 draft. Robertson was drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft. Miller had a 9.78 K/9 rate as a 19 year old in Quad Cities. Robertson had a 10.82 K/9 rate as a 19 year old for Beloit. Robertson has a much higher upside than Miller, but his downside is Miller. It might even be below Miller considering his injury risk. I don’t personally rank pitchers as top prospects if they have that low of a floor, no matter how high their ceiling is.
LEN III
Are you still alive? It’s been almost a week, let’s here some new news coming out of the Twins organization. Do they even have a plan in place for this off season?
LEN III and all Twins fans:
I would like some credit for the following pre-season picks of mine, which can be verified by visiting the relevant blog post from last March:
“Picks-to-Click”:
Carlos Silva
Luis Rodriguez
Picks-to-Disappoint:
Nick Punto
Jesse Crain
# of Twins wins in ‘07:
85-87
I’m sure I did better than most!
Michael Blaine
http://www.rudelystamped.blogspot.com
Not much Twins representation in the Florida State League’s Top 20 prospects:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/264954.html
Yahoo sports is reporting that the Padres claimed Luis Rodriguez off waivers from the Twins today.
They also released Brady Clark to make room.
I was just going to post that Jeff…
From Rotoworld:
Padres claimed infielder Luis Rodriguez off waivers from the Twins.
Color us stunned that another team wanted Rodriguez, especially that the team is one that relies more on statistics than most. The 27-year-old Rodriguez is a .243/.311/.339 hitter in 445 at-bats as a major leaguer, and he was especially bad this year. If he were a particularly rangey shortstop, maybe he’d be an acceptable utilityman. However, he’s clearly not. In fact, the Twins didn’t have him make one appearance there all year. It just doesn’t make much sense that the Padres want him anywhere near their 40-man roster.
Can we get a Twins update around here!?? 
LaVelle:
You coming down to AZ for the AFL? Landed this morning and went over to see Plouffe, Macri, and Butera take some b.p.
Plouffe stopped by to chat when their practice ended. He’s looking forward to playing in the AFL and is hoping to get an invite to Spring Training camp.
Games start on Tuesday.
All the talk about Robertsons velocity. Did anyone mention movement, life? Only 19 & may have a little more in there. How hard does Brandon Webb throw? Didnt he win Cy Youmg award? To combine 10+ K’s per 9 & a gb/fb ratio of 2 to 1 not to mention walking less than 3 every 9 innings all from the LS speaks for itself.
Has anyone seen LaVelle? Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller.
God almighty, post something for crying out loud…I know you’re around, because I hear you on KFAN regularly discussing the Bears.
Some guys need their LENIII fix, huh?
Post it when ya got it, sir.
Anything regarding GM Smith would be interesting.
Echo Echo Echo Echo
How about anything about prospective contract talks with Hunter, Santana, Silva, Morneau, Cuddyer, etc…or a continuation of prospect highlights?
Tyler was stressing about having to start in High A next season. I keep telling him it’s still a pitchers’ league, but he’s like “I don’t know about that.” He blew the save on the camp game Saturday but he still struck out five. I don’t the question will be on the jump from Low to High A but High A to Double A. David Bromberg is another prospect that’s come along nicely.
