Minnesota

Twins

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound prep arm boasts three plus offerings and is one of the youngest pitchers in this year’s draft. He’s a Central Florida commit, but is expected to sign with Minnesota. There’s always a little bit of a lottery aspect to taking a high school arm, and Soto’s delivery is not squeaky clean, but the stuff is great and if he can command three pitches, he should profile as a quality starter in the majors someday.

Some talent evaluators believe Jenkins offers the highest ceiling of any prospect in this year’s draft class, which is absolutely loaded with potential plus all-around bats. The 18-year-old outfielder is a physical specimen that showcases plenty of raw power, and also runs well enough to remain in center, though that could change eventually. He might not move as quickly as his draft rival, Max Clark, but the extra over-the-fence pop he possesses could allow him to win out in the end. He projects as a potential 30-homer threat in the majors once he arrives in Minnesota in a couple years.

Ryan gave up a homer to Austin Hays in the second, but he was otherwise stellar in striking out 10 through four innings. The fifth, though, saw Ryan give up a single, a homer and two walks, with just one out recorded. The Twins pulled him at that point, and both of the batters who walked came around to score of Jovani Moran. It’s a disappointing conclusion to a fine first half that saw Ryan go 8-6 with a 3.70 ERA and a 124/18 K/BB ratio. He’s 11th in the majors in strikeouts and fourth with a 1.01 WHIP.

Julien is the Twins’ best hitter right now, so the team is going to have to figure out something when Jorge Polanco returns later this month. Maybe it’s time for a crash course at first base.

Solano capped off a three-hit effort with an RBI double off right-hander Tyler Wells in the sixth inning. The 35-year-old infielder is quietly hitting .285/.378/.430 with four homers and 22 RBI across 246 plate appearances this season in his Twins debut.

Outside of a bizarre six-run second inning, Gray delivered a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon in his first-half finale. That’s a pretty significant caveat, but the All-Star right-hander gave up just one baserunner besides the six hits and two walks he allowed in a calamitous second inning. He’ll bring a solid 2.89 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 101/39 K/BB ratio across 99 2/3 innings (18 starts) into the All-Star break.

Lopez is coming off an incredible 12-strikeout, four-hit shutout earlier this week against the Royals and will take his talents to Seattle for next week’s Midsummer Classic. It’s the first All-Star Game selection of his career.

As per usual, Ober got little help from his offense; the Twins have totaled one or no runs in five of his last nine starts. He finishes the first half with a 5-4 record in spite of the ineptitude. At 82 2/3 innings, he’s a tad shy of qualifying for the ERA title, a result of him opening up in the minors. However, his 2.61 mark would rank seventh in the majors.

Duran worked a scoreless ninth in a tie game, but the Orioles managed two runs off him in the 10th on a double that scored the automatic runner, a sac bunt and then a sac fly. Duran also took a blown save and a loss last time out on Sunday, but even so, he still has a 2.10 ERA for the season. It’s doubtful that he’ll “slump” for long.

Stewart emerged as a vital high-leverage option this season for Minnesota before landing on the injured list back in late June with right elbow soreness. It’s the first real update regarding his status since that point, and it’s an extremely positive one for the Twins.